India's Ambitious Goal: To Reach Top-50 FIFA Rankings in Next Decade, Says Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya

India is home to a vast reservoir of young talent on a global scale. It is crucial to prioritize grassroots talent identification and development, along with coach training, to foster the growth of sports in the country. Since the inception of FIFA rankings in 1992, the Indian men's football team has achieved its best ranking of 94 in February 1996, breaking into the top-100 only a handful of times.

In the latest FIFA chart issued on Thursday, the Indian football team is ranked 127th, two spots down from the earlier October list. Japan, Iran, Korea and Australia, the regular Asian countries in the World Cup, are ranked at 15th, 18th, 23rd and 26th respectively in the latest rankings.

After the meeting, which also discussed the importance of coach development, the minister assured the AIFF of all possible support for the development of the sport in India.

"Rapid economic growth and an expanding middle class are reshaping attitudes towards sports. Parents are now encouraging children to balance academics with sports unlike earlier times," the minister pointed out.

"The Government is committed to providing comprehensive support for sports development in India. Initiatives like new training centres and partnerships with international bodies will drive progress." Chaubey said the AIFF has presented a detailed plan to Mandaviya.

"Given the size and population of a vast country like India, one AIFF-FIFA academy in Odisha is not enough. So, we proposed to have four more regional academies with the same technical supports from FIFA." "Presently in India, there are 25 fully professional clubs in the ISL and the I-League. In addition to that, there are 80 AIFF-accredited academies, all these teams are having under-13 age group category teams, the details have been presented to the ministry." FIFA Talent Development Scheme (TDS) Project Director Ged Roddy, who is currently on a visit to India, was also present at the meeting, along with AIFF Secretary General Anilkumar.

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The AIFF-FIFA Academy was launched in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, after a visit of world renowned coach Arsene Wenger, who is the FIFA Chief of Global Football Development.

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The academy currently has 32 cadets. Roddy, FIFA TDS project director, is presently on a visit to India to review the project.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)