The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on Thursday released “FootballBallFever”, a postage stamp to commemorate the kick-off of the FIFA World Cup at the 7 Race Course Road, New Delhi as reported earlier [+ read more].

Praful Patel, President, All India Football Federation, who was present in the function along with a host of former footballers including Chuni Goswami, Subrata Bhattacharya and the present Indian national team captain Sunil Chhetri amongst others, stressed on the importance of taking football to the “masses of the country.”

“Football is the most popular sport of the world and is played among 209 Countries unlike cricket. The popularity of the sport knows no bounds,” Patel told AIFF Media.

“All India Football Federation is looking forward to hosting the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup which would be a game changer in the country and will also help galvanise the face of Indian football among the masses and youth of the country,” he added.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also maintained that “football is gaining space” in the country.

“This is history. India is making preparations for hosting the 2017 U-17 Football World Cup in 2017. Football is gaining space in our country’s sports. We need to push it more,” he was quoted as saying.

Besides, Olympic medallists Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Sushil Kumar and Karnam Malleswari also graced the occasion.

(Report courtesy AIFF Media / Picture courtesy PTI)