AIFF set to receive financial boost from central government

The annual budget was announced by Kiren Rijiju in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

Kiren Rijiju, the newly-appointed Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, announced the increment in the annual financial assistance provided by the Government of India to the governing body of football in India, the AIFF. The revised amount is ₹30 crore for 2019-20, a major upgrade from ₹23.08 crores in 2018-19.

The announcement was later conveyed in a press release which also made mention of policies for promoting football in the country. Apart from stating the amount that the AIFF would receive for the 2019-20 financial year, which by the way was finalised after having a look at all the possible training camps and fixtures for the team, the press release also listed out the responsibilities of the country's official National Sports Federation (NSF) for football.

Sports being a matter of state government's concern, AIFF would be expected to work in collaboration with the state governments for the development of the sport, with the cente only assisting them and not being a part of their collaboration.

The three parties to be involved in the planning for the development of the sport - state government, district affiliates and the NSF for football, AIFF, would be expected to bring policies to life at State/District level, with the central government not intending to interfere in the development processes and/or planning.

The release also stated that the major sports promotional programs, that are 'Scheme of Assistance to National Sports Federations’ and ‘Khelo India’, are applicable for all areas, including Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe dominated areas.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports backed Sports Authority of India (SAI) has been tasked to introduce and implement development policies and schemes across the country, including Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe dominated areas.

The SAI would also be needed to identify and develop talents from across the country in the age of 8-25 years. These players would be developed to participate in the national and international competitions and tournaments. The list of the competitions are as follows:

• National Sports Talent Contest Scheme (NSTC)
• Army Boys Sports Company (ABSC)
• SAI Training Centre (STC)
• Special Area Games (SAG)
• Extension Centre of STC/SAG
• Centre of Excellence (COE)
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• National Sports Academies (NSA)