All India Football Federation (AIFF) General Secretary Kushal Das met AFC delegates Teo Chwee Lian Julie (Head of Women’s Development – Technical Division) and Fan Yunjie (Co-opted Member, AFC Technical Committee – AFC Coaching Instructor) yesterday to catch up on what transpired in the Women’s Assistance Programme (WAP) which ended in the capital on Wednesday.
The two-member AFC delegation presented a plaque to Das and apprised him about the meeting also praising India’s efforts on the development of Women’s Football.
They also charted a roadmap on development football for women in the country and how it can be further improved.
The importance of having a Women’s National League was stressed upon and Das assured that AIFF is serious about conducting a Women’s League in 2015 as per the strategic plan.
“I am glad that the AFC has approved AIFF”s four-year strategic plan regarding development of Women’s Football in the country,” Kushal Das told AIFF Media. “The plan to set up a Women’s League in 2015 and launch the league in 2016 was much appreciated by the AFC’s WAP Team,” he added.
“The intention is to have a Women’s League for at least four to five months in a year rather than the current structure where the National Women’s Championships are restricted to around 21 days of the year.”
Other issues like the necessity of having at least one female coach on board for any age-group team while travelling for international or even national competitions and increasing the number of female coaches were also discussed.
It was also underlined that more number of competitions in a calendar year will attract the much-needed eyeballs to Women’s Football.
WAP is a relatively new programme under AFC, introduced only last year. It’s a development tool that aims to customize development programs, according to each Federation’s level of Women’s Football and needs.
Ten countries have availed of the programme so far. The list includes Northern Mariana Islands, Bhutan, Laos, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Sri Lanka, Kuwait, Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan.
(Report & Picture courtesy AIFF Media)