The All India Football Federation (AIFF), after introducing Bank of Baroda as the first ‘national supporter’ for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup 2017, announced an initiative backed by the government to popularise the game among kids.

The U-17 competition will be conducted from October 6-28 next year, with India as one of the participant sides.

The FIFA event can have five more ‘national supporters’. “This is a unique opportunity to be partners in making football history in India,” said Javier Ceppi, Tournament Director.

Joy Bhattacharya, Project Director, informed about the initiatives to spread football. “Under the Mission 11million project, 11 million youngsters across 30 States will be involved, via football festivals,” he said, adding: “You do not need to play 11v 11. The game should be played in 5v5 and similar formats. The intention is to make sure kids enjoy football and forcing them into the 11v11 format is like doing a disservice to the game.”

Seminars will be conducted to make school principals, parents, administrators, coaches aware of the benefits of playing on small-sized pitches.

“The U-17 World Cup is where the stars start,” said Ceppi, pointing out that many current stars in top clubs and leading competitions, like the recent Club World Cup played at Yokohama, made an impact at the U-17 level.

Rakesh Bhatia, BoB GM (Corporate Communications), said: “It is truly an Indian crusade to make sure the competition is a success and engages our population.”

Longer ISL

The FIFA tournament is an addition to the list of football events next year. Asked about the status of the I-League and Indian Super League in 2017, AIFF Secretary, Kushal Das, said: “All other events will be preceded by the U-17 World Cup in October. We are working towards restructuring the league by making the ISL longer, with a League I and League II. The legacy clubs will be allowed into the next league (League II).”

Das said: “The spectator attendance in the ISL has been phenomenal, some of the legacy clubs have not been able to create that fan base.

“These clubs can play in League II, make a sustainable model, create a fan base and then come up. For sometime there will not be promotion-relegation, but in due course there will be an open league. “It’s a difficult task which we are working on.”

AIFF president and U-17 WC Local Organising Committee chairman, Praful Patel, conveyed a message via video from Kochi about BoB’s association with the FIFA event.