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The launch of the overseas online scouting portal to find Players for the 2017 FIFA Under-17 World Cup has been one of the path breakers as far as scouting for Football in India is concerned. The AIFF initiative is now being followed and implemented by the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs for other sports as well.
In a freewheeling chat with AIFF Media, former India captain Abhishek Yadav, the brain behind the project and also the current Director Scouting, AIFF spoke at length about the Ideation, the support from AIFF and SAI, the ‘best part’ of the project, his interaction with the Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Vijay Goel, and much more.
What prompted you to go ahead with this?
The intent was to increase the pool of Players for the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017. Having a larger pool is a bonus for any Coach and the online overseas scouting portal was one of the options.
&I can also tell from my experience from my playing days that whenever we went out to play in any Tournaments or exposure Tours we got enquiries about how could NRIs with a valid Indian Passport opt to play for India.
How much receptive was AIFF when you proposed this?
The project wouldn’t have kicked-off if All India Football Federation wouldn’t have been receptive of the entire idea. The encouragement and more importantly the guidance from both Mr. Praful Patel (President, AIFF) and Mr. Kushal Das (General Secretary, AIFF) have been exceptional. I need to thank them for all the freedom and support without which this project won’t have been ever launched.
It was National Coach Stephen Constantine who had introduced me to scouting and since then I have also had talks with AIFF Technical Director Scott O’Donell, Nicolai Adam and Kishore Taid.
I also need to mention about Injeti Srinivas, DG SAI and MRajiv Yadav, Secretary, Sports for their help.
Why was such a portal necessary?
There are Indian citizens with valid Indian Passports all over the World. But it is physically impossible to reach out to them. In such a situation, the portal will help in bridging the distance and bringing the World closer to the cause – development of Indian Football. This is a message to Indians (with valid Indian Passports) living abroad that we care about them and that Country needs them. We intend to make everything transparent and no talent should ever go unnoticed.
And you know what? This is not just about NRI citizens. It’s also about Indian Players living in India.
Can you elaborate?
The best part of the online portal stays that even Indian Players residing in India can upload their videos. So we are not just targeting NRIs but also Indians who reside in every nook and corner of our Country.
So will the physical scouting process in India be abolished?
Never! The scouting network will always stay operational. The portal gives all an option to reach us in cases if we can’t reach out to them.
How much are you optimistic about finding Players from this Project?
It’s a beginning and though one can never predict as to how many Players we would be able to spot, the project provides an additional platform to overseas Indian citizens who may have otherwise gone unnoticed.
Are you aware that the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs are launching similar portals for other sports too?
It’s just a reassurance that we are on the right track. We are extremely glad that the Government of India has taken note of our effort and is implementing it for other sports as well. Most importantly, it projects the vision and interest of our current Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, Mr Vijay Goel.
Mr. Goel personally congratulated me saying ‘Well done.’ He was basically assured that the project will produce results in the future.
by AIFF Media
