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The legacy programme of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup – India, Mission XI Million, has reached a first major milestone by reaching out to one million children across India.
The program is a Government of India and All India Football Federation initiative reached the milestone in Sikkim capital Gangtok, the home state of Indian football legend Baichung Bhutia.
The one millionth child from the programme, Shrijna Subba, a student of Deorali Government Secondary School, Tadong, was given a memento at the MXIM seminar held in Gangtok.
Present on the occasion were former India national team captain Bhutia, Javier Ceppi (2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup tournament director), B.K. Roka (Sikkim Football Association president) and Menla Ethenpa (Sikkim FA general secretary).
The All India Football Federation president Praful Patel expressed his delight at the initiative reaching one million children and said, “This is a moment of absolute joy for us. Reaching one million kids that have been engaged with football in the country is a massive milestone.”
“Mission XI Million is really transforming football in India, and a testament of that is that the one millionth kid is a girl that comes from a government school from one of the corners of the country.”
“The revolution of football is happening in India through MXIM and having reached one million kids is a very evident sign of it,” Praful Patel added.
Mission XI Million aims to take football to at least 11 million boys and girls across the length and breadth of the country before the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup begins on October 6.
Recently, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Vijay Goel undertook a mass football distribution drive at the Indian Parliament, to encourage MPs to promote the sport in their respective constituencies.
Commenting on the development, Goel said, “I am delighted to see the progress Mission XI Million has made in just a few months. Acting upon the vision of our Honorable Prime Minister we want to develop football in the country and take it every village in the country.”
“We reached out to our MPs in an attempt to achieve the same and hopefully by the time the FIFA U-17 World Cup happens in India, we would have reached the objective of making football the sport of choice for every child in the country.”
