Sikkim CM held meeting with members of All India Football Federation in Gangtok

Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang met the members of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) led by President Kalyan Chaubey in Gangtok. 

Taking to his social media handle, Sikkim CM wrote, "We deliberated on ways to promote and enhance football in Sikkim, starting at the grass root level. I informed the members regarding the government’s plan to improve facilities and infrastructure in the state to encourage the younger generations and to develop world-class players."

CM further shared "My gratitude to the President and members for their eagerness to assist both men and women footballers in the state. Apart from the aforementioned points, we also discussed organizing tournaments in the future to raise the level of competitiveness."

In the first order of the day, President Chaubey suggested that new ideas must be brought in for the 2023-24 season of the Hero I-League in order to strengthen the competition. A meeting will be held with representatives from all the clubs, with the venue and date to be decided later.

The Executive Committee had a long and fruitful discussion on the budget and its several intricacies, which are aimed at taking Indian Football forward together. The committee will have another meeting to finalise the AIFF’s budget on every front.

Several other committees were approved by the Executive Committee, in order to look into matters like club licensing, medical matters, legal matters, grassroots, etc.

The Executive Committee approved a number of suggestions that were earlier forwarded to it by the Competitions Committee, the first of which was concerning the Hero Senior Men’s National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy. The legacy competition of Indian Football will be played with the final round having 12 teams (10 qualifying states, along with the Services and the Railways). The Group Stages will be placed across six groups of five to six teams each, and the group toppers, along with the three best second-placed teams, the hosts, the Services, and the Railways will play in the final round. 

The EC also agreed with the Competitions Committee’s suggestion that the Hero Senior Women’s NFC Qualifiers be held in December.