Praful Patel Biography

All India Football Federation (AIFF) is about to change the course of Indian Football as it bags the most prestigious international event of FIFA U-17 World Cup. The tournament, to be hosted in India, has been scheduled in the year 2017.  The governing body has been putting its best efforts in the developmental proceedings pertaining to organisation and infrastructure. Not only so AIFF has also been putting substantial efforts in shaping up the performance skills of the players by engaging them in different grassroots programs.

AIFF President Praful Patel has already had his talks with the FIFA officials and he is himself volunteering the proceedings from selection to maintaining the spirit of the game. FIFA is now setting up two development programmes to promote participation in the U-17 World Cup qualifiers and to develop domestic youth competitions respectively. In the area of domestic youth tournaments, FIFA’s primary objective will be to help member associations to increase the number of youth competitions. The implementation will be done among the candidates of different age groups by means of specific education programmes, teaching materials and equipment. Member associations will be requested to provide a four year development plan under the guidance of a technical director to be entitled to receive FIFA’s support.

The initiatives of AIFF have been largely appreciated for its activities in terms of issuing licence to the clubs. With Praful Patel contributions as the organisation’s president have enabled the concern to take up major initiatives in terms of the professionalization of the sport in the country. The governing body is also maintaining a stringent approach in the selection method for the U-17 FIFA World Cup. More so, to maintain the integrity of the match an integrity officer had recruited who will be responsible for eliminating every possibility of corruption and malpractices like match fixing and doping from the team.