Regional states combine to form North East Football Association

The Association will be headed by Larsing Ming Sawyan from Meghalaya.

The football association officials from each north eastern state in the country convened on February 5 in Shillong to discuss the future of football in the eight sister states. The associations came into agreement to form a new body - the North East Football Association - to oversee the development of football.

The convention agreed that the north east is a hotbed for footballing talent in the country, and such talent and football itself should be developed at a greater pace as well as cooperating on the different problems faced by each state.

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The association will oversee development of football in the north east states and liase with the central and state governments. It will work to set up a new football competition which will be between the north eastern states in the country.

The association shall respect and work alongside the existing All India Football Association calendar. It will look to augment the development of football in the north east alongside the efforts of the AIFF in football development. It will also look to provide necessary aids to the state associations that are lagging further behind.

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The newly appointed leaders of the North East Football Association are :

President - Larsing Ming Sawyan, Meghalaya

Vice Presidents - Menla Ethenpa, Sikkim

Hemendra Nath Brahma, Assam

Lalnghinglova Hmar, Mizoram

General Secretary - Kipa Ajay, Arunachal Pradesh

Treasurer - Amit Chowdhury, Tripura

Manipur and Nagaland will each appoint a Joint Secretary.

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Newly appointed NEFA president Larsing Ming stated, "The north east states hold an integral place in Indian football as well as the potential to develop even further at a higher level. There are states that have seen steady developments in football while there are states that lag behind. It is the responsibility of all here to ensure their development is up to pace with everyone."

"We will reach out to the central government, to see that we have progress in all the areas for potential development. Devotees for football in the north east have stepped up for a north eastern association to come into existence, and we should not be an association that raises its voice just for the sake of raising a voice. We need to ensure our voice and our step go alongside each other."