India and Turkmenistan receive AFC grassroots charter bronze memberships

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the Football Federation of Turkmenistan (FFT) are the latest to join the rising trend of AFC Member Associations benefiting from the game-changing AFC grassroots charter after they both were awarded their bronze memberships for their continuous efforts in strengthening the grassroots movement in their respective countries.

The AIFF has built a comprehensive grassroots development structure that covers a wide range of areas including competitions, futsal, youth development, coach education, and fair play.

With the aim of exponentially increasing the interest in football, the AIFF has organised various grassroots activities ranging from U-6 to U-12 leagues, U-13 to U-18 leagues, women's championships and activities, AFC Grassroots Football Day and grassroots festivals.

AIFF President Praful Patel said, "I am extremely delighted that we got the award for grassroots development programme. In our estimation, if India's football has to develop in the coming years, it has to be done on the foundation of the grassroots programme."

A robust coach education system has also been emphasised in the AIFF's grassroots blueprint. Over 1,700 coaches have attended the grassroots leader and instructor courses in the past three years and the AIFF has conducted 38 'C' and 206 'D' coaching license courses since 2018.