Kiren Rijiju announces launch of women’s football league in India
Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju said on Saturday, the government will launch a football league for women next month, creating one of the most extensive football programmes in the country, aiming to take the sport to the masses. India will be hosting the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju said on Saturday, the government will launch a football league for women next month, creating one of the most extensive football programmes in the country, aiming to take the sport to the masses. The sports minister claimed football to be the no. 1 sport in the country, not in terms of winning international championships but in a way that it can be played by all. Rijiju also said that he has urged FIFA to look at more venues for hosting matches for the Under-17 Women’s World Cup.
“We are going to launch women football league, most probably next month. We are ready with the format and it will be one of the most extensive football programmes in the country and it will be in collaboration with the Ministry of Women and Child Development,” Rijiju told the PTI at the unveiling event of the official emblem of next year’s Fifa U-17 Women’s World Cup, to be hosted by India.
“We are ready and we are going to launch it. And you are going to see that it will be huge movement in India, not just a tournament. We have to raise the level of football in India and we have to be aggressive. I am clear in that if we are not aggressive, we won’t be able to push through,” the minister added.
All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Praful Patel and chief women’s football officer of FIFA, Sarai Bareman were also present at the event. According to Rijiju, the Indian women’s team has better prospects of making it to the FIFA World Cup due to their higher ranking as compared to the men.
“In this one year’s time, we would be generating enough enthusiasm among people to make this World Cup one of the most successful and memorable. Personally I have two objectives one is to make this event the most successful and second to take that as an opportunity to create football culture in India.”
“When I speak about creating a sports culture in India, we cannot overlook football. Being the most popular sport on this planet, football has to be a priority. Football culture is being developed now, but what we require is to take it to a new level,” he added.
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