Arsene Wenger in India. (AIFF)
FIFA Chief of Global Football Development, Wenger quipped that there is a need to have 40 development academies to fulfil the needs of a country the size of India. However, he was convinced that proper solutions could be met with the help of all concerned stakeholders.
FIFA Chief of Global Football Development, Arsene Wenger, remarked that timely identification of talents and providing them profound coaching at a young age is essential to growing Indian football.
Speaking at a press conference with AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey in Mumbai, Wenger said that developing the sport in India is an exciting and interesting endeavour for the global governing body as he insisted upon finding efficient solutions in consultation with all stakeholders of the game in the nation.
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Wenger signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on behalf of FIFA with AIFF to set up the inaugural FIFA-AIFF Talent Academy at the Odisha Football Academy in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.
“We are convinced that you have to put the best talents against each other together. Football is learnt with the difficulties you experience by playing against good players,” Wenger said.
“We want to identify good talents, give them the best coaching, quality competitions, and after that, the final step is to integrate them within the first team,” he continued.
AIFF president Chaubey touched upon the driving force that the Indian Super League (ISL) and other stakeholders have been towards taking Indian football forward.