> On 27th April 2022, The Indian Express reported that under the Annual Calendar Training and Competitions (ACTC), grants by the government to the football body was slashed from Rs 30 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 10 crore in 2020-21 and is now only Rs 5 crore for the current financial year 2022-2023.
> Considering the poor performance of the Indian football team, AIFF was advised to strictly focus on the development of grassroot-level talent.
I understand that it takes time, knowledge, patience and a structured process to learn the game of football. Indian news media provides so little coverage to grassroot-level football and other discipline of sports that it is practically impossible to estimate the progress. Even social media appears to be least interested unless some controversy erupts.
> As per All India Football Federation website the Golden Baby Leagues Project is a long-term player development initiative that aims to grow a new generation of players, boys, and girls, that start playing football from a very young age. The project envisages that children get exposure to an age-appropriate number of games and playing formats as they grow older.
> The Golden Baby Leagues is aimed for all stakeholders of Indian Football who are engaged with children within this age group, be it clubs, academies, schools, non-government organizations, parents, coaches, football fans. Everyone! Anyone can organize the AIFF Golden Baby Leagues, anywhere in the country.
Unfortunately the amount of information in AIFF website regarding execution of Golden Baby Leagues is minimal. Only the ongoing baby leagues are listed with no further details regarding status, contact information etc.
References:
1. https://www.theweek.in/news/sports/2022/04/27/govt-funding-for-indian-football-slashed-by-85-since-2019-20-report.html
2. https://technosports.co.in/2022/04/30/heres-why-indian-football-5-crore/
3. https://www.the-aiff.com/golden-baby-league
4. https://www.the-aiff.com/golden-baby-league/list
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