Joint initiative to popularise football in schools

The Western India Football Association and ISL club, Mumbai City FC, have launched a new initiative with the support of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai to promote the game in some city schools.
The initiative, 'Just Play' sessions, would first be started in ten schools within Mumbai by March 2017, before it's spread to encompass approximately 80 schools and reach 30,000 children in Maharashtra by the end of next year, said a media release today.
Besides the Greater Mumbai Region, the programme is also expected to cover schools from parts of Maharashtra such as Kalyan/Dombivali, Ambarnath and Thane.
'Just Play' is an Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) programme developed in 11 Pacific countries in partnership with the Australian Government, the UEFA Foundation and the Football Federation of Australia and UNICEF.

Based on the success of the programme in the Pacific, the Football Federation of Australia took the initiative with OFC to develop the programme in India in partnership with the All India Football Federation (AIFF).