Wenger’s way!

FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development Arsene Wenger (left) and AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey in the city yesterday. Pic/PTI

Premier League stalwart and former Arsenal FC manager Arsene Wenger donned a new hat as FIFA Chief of Global Football Development at a press conference in the city with All India Football Federation (AIFF) President Kalyan Chaubey on Wednesday.

Wenger signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the AIFF for the establishment of the inaugural FIFA-AIFF talent academy in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.

India's economic boom

"We want to find solutions together. We [FIFA] have a good image of what world football is about because we penetrate inside every country. India is booming economically and this is a great opportunity to get everybody onboard. Around the last 30 years, India has been ranked amongst the top 100 countries in the FIFA standings, sometimes worse. Is this the place to be for India? We have to find efficient solutions and answers together," Wenger said.

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He added, "We do not demand anything. We want to tell you the truth of everything, but after that the main part is that of the federation. They have the power to change football in the country. We are here to help with our knowledge and expertise." Wenger explained that efficient and timely solutions to India-specific problems must be found in consultation with all stakeholders of football in the country.

Quality of education matters

"The top one percent footballing countries in the world are the ones with better systems of education. There is a huge correlation between the quality of education and the results of the first-team," Wenger said.

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Chaubey expressed his gratitude to FIFA for sending their delegation to India for this initiative and insisted that the AIFF will take measures to train and improve domestic coaches so that the talent identification process in the country is more widespread.

"This is a first of its kind academy and they will guide us with the dos and the don'ts of the youth football ecosystem in the country.

Simultaneously, the AIFF is training 70 Indian coaches with each member association nominating two coaches for a two-year-long certification upgradation program. For the success of this program, it's important to identify talent in every pocket of the country. FIFA cannot send hundreds of scouts for that. We have to identify our homegrown players with our Indian coaches," he signed off.