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The All India Football Federation (AIFF), a bronze member of the AFC Grassroots Charter, joined hands with Special Olympics Bharat (SO Bharat) to organise several grassroots activities in conjunction with the second edition of the AIFF Futsal Club Championship 2022-23, which was held from February 8 to 19 at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall, Indira Gandhi Stadium Complex.
As part of the grassroots celebrations, the two-day event was organised with the aim of reinforcing the passion for the game through unique activities targeted to further develop Children’s, Disability, Women’s, Veterans and Amateur Futsal.
Among the activities included a workshop on Unified Sports by SO Bharat featuring Special Athletes, a children’s futsal workshop conducted by FIFA Technical Consultant Victor Hermans for the under-12 age category as well as three exhibition matches between six regional winners of the State DFA Golden League.
At the same time, several exhibition matches were also organised between the League Champions of the State FA Women’s Premier League and the Women’s Championship League (Women), former national players and Executive Committee members of Football Delhi (Veteran), as well as staff members and volunteers of the AIFF and Football Delhi (Amateur).
“There is a lot of potential in India when it comes to Futsal, and I am very impressed by the range of activities and overall organisation of this competition. I look forward to coming back to India more frequently and observing the development of the sport,” said Hermans.
Prior to the competition, more than 30 participants underwent a coaches’ training course, which was focused on promoting the Special Olympics agenda and values as well as the inclusion of athletes with intellectual disability in sports and beyond.
The Unified Futsal Championship was also played over an hour between teams which comprised players of all abilities.
AIFF General Secretary Dr. Shaji Prabhakaran said: “We at the All India Football Federation are committed to an inclusive football for all approach and this unified football initiative was one such opportunity to help athletes with intellectual disability experience regular football. In the coming times, we will definitely keep promoting other grassroots programmes in our mainstream national championships and events.”
