AIFF Media Team

NEW DELHI: The All India Football Federation (AIFF), in collaboration with FIFA, concluded the two-day FIFA Amateur Football Environment Analysis (AFEA) workshop in New Delhi on Friday, July 3, 2026.

The programme forms part of FIFA's Global Amateur Football Environment Analysis initiative, a multi-year project undertaken by FIFA's Global Football Development Division in collaboration with its Member Associations, to better understand and strengthen amateur football ecosystems around the world. It offers a space for different stakeholders involved in the amateur game to interact and explore avenues for collaboration.

While the first day of the workshop had focused on the Member Association's (AIFF) representatives, the final day saw expanded participation from a wider range of stakeholders, including representatives from government bodies, state associations, clubs involved in grassroots and amateur football, schools and universities with football programmes, and private sector organisations.

The workshop was led by Chokey Nima, FIFA Regional Technical Consultant for South Asia, and Javier Sánchez, Amateur Football Analysis Manager, both from FIFA's Global Football Development Division.

Among the participants on the final day were AIFF Deputy Secretary General Mr M Satyanarayan, Technical Director Syed Sabir Pasha, Mr Mulrajsinh Chudasama, Chairman, Futsal Committee, and Secretary, Gujarat State Football Association, Mr Syed Hasnain Ali Naqvi, Member, Executive Committee and Chairman, Grassroots Committee, Ms Sonibala Devi Akoijam, IFS, Vice Chairperson and MD, Sports Authority of Telangana, and Ms Sonali Chand, OAS, Sports & Youth Services Department, Government of Odisha.

The stakeholder engagement formed an integral part of the programme, with discussions encouraging collaboration between football administrators, educational institutions, government agencies and organisations working in community sport and grassroots football.

Reflecting on the workshop, Sánchez, who hails from Spain, said, "I'm really happy with this event because we had people from various states and external stakeholders. Representatives from the government, clubs, academies, and even schools came together. That shows the commitment. The main objective has been achieved. We brought together people from different stakeholder groups in the same room, had meaningful discussions and answered many questions.

It was very fruitful for us, and we gathered a lot of information that will help us develop a tailor-made grassroots and amateur football programme for the future. The India-specific report will serve as an important reference, and we realised that many of the recommendations are already being implemented. This shows that significant progress has been made over the last three years. Overall, we are very happy with the commitment shown by the AIFF, and the constructive interaction with all the different stakeholders."

Bhutan's Chokey said, "The event was well received by the audience. I learned a lot of things besides the analysis. A lot of things are going on in India, and down the line, we have a lot of things on our plate. I think this will help the development of football in the country in a holistic sense, as both elite and amateur domains are included and the approach is done in a professional way. India is like a continent in itself due to its massive population, so creating a formal communication platform is necessary to facilitate such activities as per the needs of the country."