FIFA Chief Arsene Wenger completes historic visit to India

FIFA Chief of Global Football Development Arsene Wenger concluded his visit to India India where he went to kick off the groundbreaking Talent Development Scheme TDS in the worlds most populous nation a significant moment in FIFAs efforts to grow the game and raise standards around the worldThe fourday tour included a visit to the new training academy in Bhubaneswar in the state of Odisha which is part of a wider national initiative to identify and develop the best young talents in the countryAlso ReadProsecutors seek nineyear jail term for Dani Alves in rape caseLaunched in 2022 the TDS aims to increase global competitiveness in both mens and womens nationalteam football so that more countries can shine on the world stageIt focuses on investing in academies with FIFA planning to ensure that 75 member associations have at least one highperformance academy or centre of excellence in place by 2027 through the FIFA Academies ProgrammeAlso ReadJust could not nail our yorkers says Matthew Wade after loss to INDCoaching is another feature of the TDS with FIFA supporting member associations by providing knowledge and guidance from FIFA talent coachesIn India FIFA will be deploying fulltime FIFA Talent Coach Sergi Amezcua and has appointed the HighPerformance Specialist Ged Roddy to provide daytoday guidance and expertise on the overall planning and implementation of the talent pathwayThe TDS will complement the All India Football Federations AIFF Vision 2047 in partnership with the Indian Super League the ILeague leading clubs academies and regional state associationsThere are many children in the world who do not get the chance to develop their talent and we can change that said Wenger in a press release by FIFA Media Team on AIFFs official websiteWe want to develop elite players in countries where theres potential for further development and India is definitely one of them The talent potential here is huge We will work hand in hand with the AIFF to unlock this potential he addedThe FIFA delegation which included former international footballers and High Performance Specialists Phillipe Senderos and Ryan Nelson began their visit in New Delhi where they met the AIFF senior management and took part in a twoday workshop with local talent identification specialistsThey then travelled to the new academy in Odisha a joint FIFAAIFF initiative that is designed to develop competitive youth national teams Once the centre is fully operational the AIFF will seek to supplement this development with additional regional centres around the countryI would like to see India develop its youth system well that we create great players and that India goes to FIFA World Cups continued WengerI believe that we have an opportunity to change the world of football Football is the number one sport in the world and a country like India with a population of 14 billion of course has to exist in this world and that is why we are here he addedFinally Wenger and the FIFA delegation travelled to Mumbai to meet local clubs leagues and football representatives emphasising the importance of taking a partnership approach across all areas of the football ecosystemAIFF President Kalyan Chaubey thanked Wenger for his visit His guidance leadership technical plan and strategy will help India dream Lets take a small step and qualify for the FIFA U17 World Cup on merit and soon for the senior FIFA World Cup he said I have high expectations that through the AIFFFIFA Talent Academy we will get our best U17 team in the next three yearsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever