Shillong, Jul 26: Meghalaya was ranked sixth among Indian states in the FIFA development project for 2019-20, various media have reported.
West Bengal were first, Maharashtra second and Kerala third, followed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Meghalaya. Punjab were seventh, Goa and Mizoram joint eighth, with Jammu & Kashmir and Odisha following behind.
The rankings by the All India Football Federation follow a points-based assessment system that indicates the performance of the states on the various operational verticals – coaches education, grassroots, academy accreditation, referees education and conduct of leagues and competitions. The rankings are meant to “push and encourage” the state associations to contribute to football development.
On 23rd July the AIFF announced the names of only the top three states. However, the others were subsequently revealed by the media and the Times of India also stated that Manipur topped the list of states that were not part of the FIFA development project.
The AIFF then issued another statement yesterday, saying, “The rankings along with the performance of the states will be discussed during the next annual general body meeting with state associations. There has been no official release of any such rankings from AIFF for all the states except for declaring the top three performers under the development project as mentioned in a release dated July 23, 2020.”
