Revealed: The best state football Association in India

The governing body released the rankings late on Friday.

All India Football Federation announced the rankings under its performance assessment system based on various criteria like grassroots development, the conduct of state leagues, AIFF academy accreditations endorsements and referee’s education. West Bengal stand first, while Maharashtra and Kerala are second and third respectively under the point-based assessment system, that indicates the performance of the states on the above-mentioned operational verticals.

There were two categories in which the states were ranked. The first had 11 states that were part of the FIFA Development Programme, while others were placed in a different section. The rankings and scores (out of 10) of State FAs rewarded by AIFF among the FIFA Development Programme are as follows.  

West Bengal adjudged with the score of 9.9 stood first whereas Maharashtra and Kerala stood second and third with a score of 8.2 and 7.4 score respectively. Karnataka Tamil Nadu and Meghalaya claimed the fourth, fifth and sixth positions with the score of 6.6, 6.5 and 5.1 respectively. The seventh position was given to Punjab with the score of 4.3. There was a tie for 8th position as Goa and Mizoram received a score of 3.3. Jammu and Kashmir and Odisha had to settle for the last two positions with the score of 2.6 and 1.3 respectively. Among the states which did not have FIFA Development Project, Manipur received the 1st place followed by Delhi and Gujarat.

All the three best performing states i.e. West Bengal, Maharashtra and Kerala had development officers deputed and funded by the AIFF. AIFF general secretary Kushal Das said the ranking system was very well-defined and fair in line with the strategic goals of the AIFF.

"The appointment of Development Officers by AIFF in different states has added immense value and states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have shown significant improvement from the previous years and hopefully will soon be ranked among the top in future years" Kushal Das as quoted by Press Trust of India.

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