BOCA JUNIORS IN ASSOCIATION MFAR LAUNCHES YOUTH FOOTBALL LEAGUE IN BANGALORE

28.04.2015 : KFC. | www.kolkatafootball.com HOME PAGE | LIKE FB

(BJFSI) Press Release : Boca Juniors Football School India (BJFSI), in association with MFAR, is excited to announce the launch of the much awaited MFAR-BOCA JUNIORS LEAGUE. With participation confirmed from academies like Bengaluru FC, SPT Sports Academy and Young Challengers Football Academy, the MFAR-BOCA JUNIORS LEAGUE is bound to witness the very best of young talent that is present across Bangalore.

Starting on the 24th of May, 2015, the MFAR-BOCA JUNIORS LEAGUE is the first of its kind League in Bangalore where students from football academies across Bangalore get to play each other every Sunday over three months period. To be held at the Dairy Science College football ground in Hebbal, the league would be open for invited academy teams across four different age categories - Under 10, 12, 14 and 16.

Commenting on the association with BJFSI, Mr Mohiuddin Mohamad, Director of MFAR said "BJFSI approached us with this wonderful idea to spread the beautiful game and also allow the opportunity to young children to play competitive matches on a continuous basis. We believe playing competitive matches on a regular basis is a must for grass root football development in India and happy to partner with BJFSI to provide the platform in Bangalore."

Richard Hood, Head of Youth Development at Bengaluru FC said "It is a tremendous initiative by Boca Juniors to bring this League to life. The junior age groups across the country lack a prolonged competitive calendar where their development and learning process can gain meaning by playing regular games. Bengaluru FC looks forward to participating in the league and in the future will contribute to the youth competitive calendar as well in order to create a round the year engagement for the young players in the city."

Apart from the teams mentioned above, BJFSI would be fielding two teams in each age category to complete the list of participants. The BJFSI teams would be mentored under the tutelage of its Technical director, Mr Petros Sideris. While keeping a keen eye on the children in the academy and getting them geared up for the league, Petros said "The league is going to an exciting experience for the students of BJFSI as well as the other academies. Playing competitive matches on a regular basis is a must for football development in India. The MFAR-BOCA JUNIORS LEAGUE is a step in the right direction and I am equally excited to have my students play matches with other academies during the League"'

Celtic FC Partnership Programme with Salgaocar SC India

23.04.2015 : KFC. | www.kolkatafootball.com HOME PAGE | LIKE FB

COURTESY- celticfc.net : CELTIC are delighted to welcome our first ever club from India, Salgaocar FC, into the Celtic Club Partnership Programme. The partnership saw coaching staff travel to Goa last week to work with the I-League club's first-team, Academy players and reach out into the local community.

Celtic's historical connection with India stretches back to 1936 with the signing of Mohammed Salim who was the first player from the Indian sub-continent to play for a European club. More recently, the club has had huge success in India through a three-year partnership with The Mahindra Group with over 3,000 young footballers being trained by Celtic coaches across India.

Following this success, Celtic has been looking at ways it can build on this success by collaborating with partners who share our philosophy and passion for footballing excellence and community engagement.

The Celtic Club Partnership programme has over 50 clubs in 15 countries all sharing in the Club's expertise in developing top class footballers. Club partners enjoy exclusive monthly coaching content, coaching camps at their own club, training tours to Celtic, access to the International Coaches' Convention and a host of other benefits aimed at sharing our expertise to help develop their club.

Celtic Chief Executive Peter Lawwell said: “The Celtic International Club Partnership Programme is a very exciting programme for the Club and we are delighted to welcome Salgaocar FC to be part of it and to the Celtic family. 'Celtic's connection with India has been longstanding, however this is the first time we have developed a relationship with another professional club in this region. We are excited to see what can be developed from this unique relationship.'

Mr. Shivanand V. Salgaocar, President, Salgaocar Football Club added: 'We at Salgaocar FC are delighted to be closely associated with Celtic FC. 'At the heart of this relationship is a shared philosophy that is devoted to the promotion and development of young, local talent. This is the beginning of what we hope to be a longstanding and highly fruitful association.'

"Turn India into a Footballing Nation" - India U-17 World Cup Head Coach Nicolai Adam

23.04.2015 : KFC. | www.kolkatafootball.com HOME PAGE | LIKE FB

AIFF Press Release : Speaking in his first-ever Media Interaction in India at a snazzy Hotel in New Delhi on Thursday (April 23), India U-17 World Cup Head Coach Nicolai Adam announced that he was pleased to be appointed and urged for undivided support from everybody to turn India into a Footballing Nation. "I am very pleased to be here as a Head Coach and also as a part of the Project and that is to develop India into a Footballing Nation. That will never be possible without everyone's support, including the Media."

"We need the Crowd as that is one of the main reasons why we play Football - the bigger the better. We want mass participation in Football and need participation from everybody at all levels ranging from the fans to the Players." "Given the resources, General Secretary Kushal Das, has done an amazing job. And now we need to take the next step, that is to prepare the Squad for the World Cup", Nicolai added.

The German Coach, who received plaudits for his stint as Head Coach in Azerbaijan was content with the quality of Players in India. "I am satisfied with what I have seen but given the two and a half years which we have in hand, we will progress even more."

Replying to a question inquiring about challenges, Nicolai asserted," The challenge is to prepare a Team in the next two and a half years for the World Cup. We are ready to face the difficulties head on, if they arise." The German Head Coach also mentioned about his conversations with National Team Head Coach Stephen Constantine and asserted that an effective scouting system stays in the pipeline.

"Stephen and myself talked about a lot of things and scouting was one of them. Obviously we need more Players and the scouting process is a constant progress. The door to the National Team is always open and wherever there is a ball rolling, played by Players born in the age-group, my Team or myself would be there."

He also gave glimpses of future which could see the U-17 Team on regular exposure trips. Four are to be to be held this year starting from an exposure trip to Germany in June 2015.

"I have prepared a plan for 2015 this year which includes four exposure trips and it will also see us play in the AFC Qualifiers. In between the spaces, we will continue our preparation of the Team in Goa." "The first exposure Trip will be in the first week of June 2015 which will see us play against better Teams. Although the 20 Players (17 outfield plus 3 Goalkeepers) which I have are good, we have to see how they will fare against better Teams," he stated.

AIFF would be appointing CEOs in five State Associations at AIFF's cost - PATEL..

23.04.2015 : KFC. | www.kolkatafootball.com HOME PAGE | LIKE FB

AIFF Press Release : The President of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) Mr. Praful Patel Chaired AIFF's Executive Committee Meeting at AIFF Headquarters, Football House in Dwarka, New Delhi on Thursday (April 23, 2015). Besides, AIFF General Secretary Mr. Kushal Das, Vice Presidents Mr. Subrata Dutta, Mr. Larsing Ming, Mr. Shrinivas Dempo and Mr. Subhash Chopra, Treasurer ZA Thakur, and all other Members except Mr. KMI Mather (Vice President) attended the Meeting.

Besides, Indian National Team Coach Mr. Stephen Constantine, India U-17 2017 World Cup Head Coach Nicolai Adam and Technical Director Mr. Scott O'Donnell were also present as were Mr. Javier Ceppi, Tournament Director, 2017 U-17 World Cup; and Mr. Joy Bhattacharyja, Project Director, 2017 U-17 World Cup.

Referring to State Associations' criteria for Technical Support, Mr. Patel announced that AIFF, in an effort to further promote the sport in various States, would be appointing CEOs in five State Associations at AIFF's cost. Further as per the AIFF Strategic Plan the AIFF with the support from FIFA will also improve the capacities of the State Associations hosting the FIFA 2017 U-17 World Cup by appointing Technical Directors.

"We will appoint the CEOs who will be on deputation for the next two years," he said. The decision came close on the heels of AIFF's tie-up with German Football Association seeking technical support for further development of the sport. AIFF's roadmap 'Laskhya' has also advocated for the State Associations appointing their CEOs in their Association.

The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup was discussed in much detail and Mr. Javier Ceppi enlightened all with a presentation over the same. For the record, FIFA has appointed India as one of the Countries for the pitch improvement Programme for 2015-16. A detailed presentation on Marketing and Promotional activities of the Indian National Team in association with Nike and IMG-R was also done by Mr. Joy Bhattacharyja while Mr. Javier Ceppi made another regarding the status of the preparation for the FIFA 2017 U-17 World Cup.

Besides, Mr. Sunando Dhar and Ms. Indu Chowdhury also made different presentations on 'State Associations and criteria for technical support' and 'Women's Football with special emphasis on FIFA 'Live Your Goals,' respectively. Furthermore, Mr. Ankur Dutta dished out plans for the Assam State Premier League in his presentation.

In addition, future editions of the 2nd Division will be a 'Zonal Competition' with Champions and Runners-up from the respective State Leagues playing the final phase. A detailed format will be provided by the I-League Department in due course. Meanwhile, after detailed discussions the Committee unanimously decided to change the format of the Federation Cup to strengthen the 2nd Division League. All the members unanimously felt that for the next 2-3 years the Federation Cup should be kept on hold and instead the 2nd Division League and the U-19 League should be broad based to include more Teams and games.

Furthermore, it was clarified that the format of the I-League and the 2nd Division in terms of promotion and relegation would stay the same. Inclusion of five U-21 Players in the Santosh Trophy was made mandatory.