With this partnership, the Dream Sports Championship evolves from a strong youth football platform into a structured, national development pathway for the next generation of Indian footballers.

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has announced a multi-year partnership with Dream Sports Foundation (DSF), designating it as its official Youth Development Partner to strengthen U16 football in India. The partnership combines AIFF's national competition framework with DSF's youth development capabilities, reflecting a shared commitment to advancing grassroots football and establishing a more cohesive development pathway for young players across India. 

Dream Sports Foundation is the sports development arm of Dream Sports, India’s leading sports technology company.

As a part of the partnership, the AIFF Junior League regional rounds will continue to serve as the qualification pathway to the national stage. DSF will complement this structure through a range of value-added and developmental interventions at the national stage, including performance analysis, education and upskilling workshops for players, coaches and support staff, and live streaming of the competition on FanCode. The national finals of the U16 AIFF Junior League will be renamed to include the Dream Sports Championship (DSC) brand.

Neel Shah, CEO, Dream Sports Foundation, said, "We are excited to partner with the All India Football Federation to help elevate the experience and opportunities available to India’s next generation of football stars. At DSF, we are committed to supporting the development of grassroots sports. Over the past two seasons, the Dream Sports Championship has shown us what is possible when young footballers get access to quality competition, coaching support, and the right stage to be seen. Partnering with AIFF now allows us to scale this impact by combining official competition structure with development-led interventions."

M. Satyanarayan, Deputy Secretary General, AIFF, said, “With youth football in India in a vibrant phase, and our AIFF leagues attracting more academies, along with our U17 team qualifying for the AFC U17 Asian Cup, we feel this support from Dream Sports Foundation will provide the right impetus for us to move further. We believe such combined efforts will hold us in good stead and help our players dream bigger.”

For two consecutive years, DSF has independently delivered the Dream Sports Championship (DSC), an AIFF-accredited football program operating at a national scale. The competition has 

already established a strong talent development track record across its two editions: 14 alumni have represented India youth teams, nine were part of the SAFF Championship 2025 winning India U19 squad, five were named in the India U20 squad in 2025, and three have gone on to make their Indian Super League debuts.

This partnership scales DSC from a strong youth football platform into a more integrated national pathway, further building on a platform that has already shown tangible talent outcomes across Indian youth teams.