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A meeting of the AIFF member associations, chaired by AIFF President Mr. Kalyan Chaubey, was held virtually on March 19, 2024.
The meeting was attended by Acting Secretary General M. Satyanarayan and 26 member states. Senior staff members of different departments of the AIFF were present at the meeting.
The meeting, which held extensive discussions on several issues, decided to ensure that the TW3 age test will be applied across U-13 and U-15 competitions at the national level youth leagues and for the Sub Junior boys and girls championships.
M. Satyanarayan said: “Now we have opened the National level youth league for all the winners of the state leagues to participate, even at the U13 level. If a particular state has eight teams in its state league, the winners will be eligible to play at the national level. If a state has more than eight clubs and academies playing in the state league, then two teams will be eligible. We are ensuring that trained scouts will be present during the national level youth leagues to spot talent at the age group level.”
However, the meeting decided that all the players who will qualify for the several National Youth Leagues through their respective state leagues will have to undergo the TW3 age test. It was pointed out that introducing such a practice will automatically cover 70–80% of all the players in the U13 and U15 areas and will help to minimise age fraud.
The meeting also raised concerns about teams pulling out of IWL2 at the last moment. It has been decided to give the state a deadline of May 31, 2024, to complete all their respective state leagues, so that all the winners will be ready to play in the 2024–25 season. This practice will help in having the participants defined long before the leagues begin at the national level, so that the AIFF calendar can be followed smoothly.
As a criterion, the respective state leagues will have to have a minimum of six teams and each team should play at least 10 matches.
Thanking the members, the AIFF President, Kalyan Chaubey, said that such meetings should be held regularly and followed up immediately to take the necessary actions to implement the decisions reached.
The President also referred to the unfortunate incident that happened in a local unregistered tournament in Kerala, where a foreign player was chased and beaten up by fans. He requested all the member associations take note of it and stay vigilant against such unregistered tournaments. He stressed the need for AIFF and member associations to work together and take preventive measures against possible match-fixing attempts at various national and state competitions.
