New Delhi: All India Football Federation (AIFF) General Secretary, Kushal Das has said that the football governing body is in talks with different state governments and the Sports Authority of India over the possibility of hosting national team camps across various age-groups.
All sports activities have been stalled all over the country and national camps are also not being started due to the coronavirus. ”We have been in talks with various State Governments as well as SAI (Sports Authority of India. Each state government has its own set of protocols to follow in terms of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Hopefully, we start both camps very soon. That’s our endeavour,” said Mr Das to AIFF TV.
”Some states are following a very rigid protocol so we might need to shift to a different state in that case. We are in the process of doing that. Abhishek (Yadav) and myself have been working constantly on this,” he added. Das admitted that the planning process for camps of age-group teams has been thrown into disarray due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But he said the AIFF will have to find a way to start camps for the Under-16 men’s and U-17 women’s teams soon.
”The first important camp is for U-16 boys who are around three months away from the AFC U-16 Championship (starting November 25).We are also conscious of the fact that the U-17 girls also need to start the camp as soon as possible,” Das said. Notably, India will host the U-17 FIFA Women’s World Cup from February 17 to March 7 next year. Under a normal situation, the junior teams would have been sent on a number of exposure tours to get them battle-ready for major tournaments like the AFC U-16 Championship or the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
While efforts still continue, exposure tours may not be a feasible solution keeping the safety of the players and the staff in mind. ”Yes it is a cause to worry.
Before the COVID-19 outbreak, we had planned a lot of exposure trips which unfortunately are shelved now. I’m hoping that we can arrange some tours, especially for the U-16 team, at least one tour before going to Bahrain,” Mr Das maintained. ”But, at this point of time, it’s very difficult to predict. It’s definitely something to worry about.
Even the other teams are also on the same boat. I guess it’s the same situation for them. But I believe Uzbekistan, Australia and Korea Republic have already resumed training, so we also need to do that,” he added. (UNI)
