Rs.100 mn boost for football for Asian Games preparation

The sports ministry will give a Rs.100 million grant to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to prepare the U-23 team for the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

A top sports ministry official told IANS that they are in consultation with the AIFF to chart out a roadmap for the team's preparation.

"The amount (Rs.100 million) will be spent on the team's practice, coaching and international exposure. We are preparing a roadmap for the team's success in the 2010 Asian Games," I. Srinivasan, joint secretary in the Department of Sports, told IANS Wednesday.

But a top AIFF official said the grant will be of no use to the national team since only the under-23 team can take part in the Asian Games.

AIFF president Praful Patel, however, thanked the ministry and hoped that it would come forward to help the federation to prepare the national team for the 2011 Asian Cup as well.

Patel said: "We had one round of meeting with the sports ministry and a lot of positives have come out of it. We will again sit down with them later this year to find out how we can work together to put Indian football on right track."

The sports ministry is also finding ways to bear a part of the training cost for the Asian Cup, for which India qualified after 24 years by winning the AFC Challenge Cup last year.

The ministry has also sponsored the team’s air-fare for the trip to Dubai and Barcelona for training-cum-competition in the run-up to the Nehru Cup in August.

Last updated on Jul 22^nd, 2009 at 18:41 pm IST--IANS