From Our Special
Correspondent
GUWAHATI: Officials of football associations from each north eastern state met in Shillong on Wednesday and arrived at a consensus to form a new body – the North East Football Association – to oversee the development of football in the eight sister states.
The association was formed with Larsing Ming Sawyan (Meghalaya) as president, Menla Ethenpa (Sikkim), Hemendra Nath Brahma (Assam) and Lalnghinglova Hmar (Mizoram) as vice presidents, Kipa Ajay (Arunachal Pradesh) as general secretary and Amit Chowdhury (Tripura) as treasurer, a statement issued on Thursday said.Manipur and Nagaland will each appoint a joint secretary.
The association will oversee development of football in the region and liaise with the central and state governments. It will work to set up a new football competition between teams of the north eastern states.
The association shall respect and work alongside the existing All India Football Federation (AIFF) calendar. It will look to augment the development of football in the Northeast along with the efforts of the AIFF in football development. It will also look to provide necessary aid to the state associations lagging behind. Newly appointed NEFA president, Larsing Ming stated, “The Northeast states hold an integral place in Indian football as well as the potential to develop even further at a higher level. There are states that have seen steady developments in football while there are states that lag behind. It is the responsibility of all here to ensure their development is up to pace with everyone. We will reach out to the central government, to see that we have progress in all the areas for potential development.”
“We should not be an association that raises its voice just for the sake of raising a voice. We need to ensure our voice and our step goes alongside each other,” Ming said.