The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Friday introduced a revamp of the present girls’s soccer construction in India but even so granting a minimal salary to those that compete within the Hero Indian Women’s League (IWL). Going ahead, it’ll be obligatory for the highest 8 taking part groups within the IWL to have at least 10 Indian avid gamers on an annual contract price at least 3.2 lakhs, AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey mentioned. The resolution was once taken on the federation’s govt committee assembly previous within the day.
While the impending (2024-25) IWL season could have 10 groups within the best department adopted through two different divisions, the 2025-26 season could have a four-tier league with the final tier being the state leagues around the nation.
“We believe these decisions will attract more girls to play football and will help the growth of the women’s game. We want women’s football in India to reach the global level,” Chaubey mentioned. Plans also are afoot to introduce a college league to run parallel with the IWL.
“We want to start with 8-16 teams. We are in touch with a host of private universities to be a part of this league and we are confident to start it this season. It will be an opportunity for our women footballers to be associated with a university and maybe enhance their education,” AIFF secretary basic Shaji Prabhakaran mentioned.
The senior males’s group, in the meantime, could have a hectic world season beginning with the Inter-Continental Cup in June till the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in November and December.
The Merdeka Cup, an erstwhile common function within the males’s calendar, will probably be again this yr along the King’s Cup in Bangkok.
The AIFF has additionally made up our minds to bar international avid gamers from taking part within the I-League Division 2 together with distinguished state leagues equivalent to Calcutta Football League (CFL), and Goa League, Chaubey introduced.
Additionally, the federation has set in movement Project Diamond, a participant construction program for elite footballers consistent with FIFA’s Talent Development Scheme (TDS). All construction wings of Indian soccer, together with the ones of ISL and Hero I-League golf equipment and elite academies, are anticipated to be part of it. A FIFA delegation to chalk out the modalities of the mission will arrive in India on May 3.
A complete grassroots program—the Blue Cubs—was once additionally introduced with the purpose of strengthening the senior males’s group. The program will probably be carried out in collaboration with the federal government, NGOs, golf equipment and different entities. The AIFF additionally offered a ten-team Institutional League for beginner groups that will be performed on a home-and-away foundation.