Amidst the pandemic crisis of Covid-19, All India Football Federation, the apex football governing body in India came with a decentralising decision as the responsibility of hosting the youth leagues is now handed over to the state associations.
The state associations has been instructed to set up a league committee which will be responsible for conducting various youth leagues. The inspections of day to day operations of the league along with the rules & regulations will be the responsibility of the league committee.
As per the new guidelines thw unaccredited clubs/academies can now participate in the preliminary rounds of the league. The apex football governing body earlier organised various preliminary rounds of the leagues at the Junior , Sub-Junior and youth levels. But the state associations will now be handed over the right to do so with the help of the league committee. This will provide ample opportunity to the state associations to be a part of the grasaroot development programs of the AIFF.
As per the new instructions, three foreign/PIO/OCI players is allowed per team in the youth leagues . An inclusion of six homegrown players in the club’s squad is manadatory for each clubs. It may be a herculean task for the new clubs to get AIFF accreditation in these tough times but this new decision will bring more involvement of the state association in AIFF grassroot development plan.