AIFF join hands with CPSFI to promote grassroots football

by Rounak Majumdar August 8, 2020

The All India Football Federation (AIFF), in its pursuit to promote grassroots football across the country, organised a webinar for representatives from the Cerebral Palsy Sports Federation of India (CPSFI) as well as members from the International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football (IFCPF) on Saturday (August 8, 2020).

Mr. Rajesh Tomar, President, CPSFI, Ms. Kavita Suresh, CEO, CPFSI; Mr. Sam Turner, CEO, Secretary-General, IFCPF; Mr. Tom Langen, Technical Director, IFCPF; Mr. Craig Carscadden, Chief Executive, CPISRA and Mr. Chokey Nima, FIFA Regional Technical Consultant, South Asia were present in the meeting. Representatives from Cerebral Palsy Sports Federations from different countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka also joined the webinar.

Mr. Tomar thanked the AIFF for lending a hand to CPSFI in order to promote grassroots football and Cerebral Palsy football across the country.

“The AIFF has been very kind to support us through the movement. In the journey, I reached out to Mr. Kushal Das (General Secretary, AIFF) and since then, we have met quite a few times. CPSFI is working closely with the AIFF, who have already assured us all sorts of technical support including logistics, coaching, training, equipment etc,” he said.

Ms. Swati Kothari, General Manager, AIFF, praised CPSFI for taking up the initiative as well.

“It is a nice initiative from grassroots as well as the developmental perspective. AIFF will be happy to work alongside CPSFI in order to promote grassroots football among those kids and move forward together,” she stated.

Mr. Nima said, “The intention to promote grassroots football amongst the less privileged kids is our priority. It falls under the domain of the AIFF and FIFA. We will work towards achieving the target. It’s wonderful to be a part of this project.”