(a) whether the performance of Indian football teams in various national and international events has declined;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to improve the level of performance;
(c) whether the Government has any proposal to include football as compulsory part of school curriculum; and
(d) the steps proposed to be taken by the Government to ensure that only renowned sports persons represent the football federations?
THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR SKILL DEVELOPMENT, ENTREPRENEURSHIP YOUTH AFFAIRS & SPORTS (SHRI SARBANANDA SONOWAL)
(a) Yes, Madam.
(b)&(c) ‘Sports’ is a State subject. Promotion and development of various disciplines of sports is primarily the responsibility of the States and of the relevant NSFs, which are autonomous in their functioning. The Government supplements the efforts of the NSFs by providing financial assistance for holding national/international sports events in India, participation of sportspersons/teams in international sports events abroad, training/coaching of national level sportspersons/teams through Indian and foreign coaches, procurement of equipment and consumables etc. as per agreed Long Term Development Plans. At present India is placed at 154th position in FIFA world ranking.
The performance of the Indian football team has declined due to various reasons such as lack of proper attention for development of football especially at the grass roots level, lack of sponsorship and indifference of advertisers tofootball, lack of career opportunity in sports etc.
With a view to generating interest among the children for football, Government of India considered the proposal of All India Football Federation (AIFF) and furnished the Declaration and Guarantees of the Government, sought by AIFF for their bid to host Under-17 FIFA World Cup in India in 2017. Football has been included as an important event in the school games and played in the categories of under-14, under-17 & under-19 for boys and girls. Also, football is included in the University Games, conducted by the Association of Indian Universities. Subroto Mukherjee Sports Education Society (SMSES) holds separate national & international football tournaments at the school level. All India Football Federation, the National Sports Federation (NSF) for the sport of football organises a number of tournaments for senior and junior players across the country. Financial assistance, at par with the NSFs, is given to SMSES for organizing National Championships at the School level.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has been extending support for improving the level of sports including Football through its various other Schemes like Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan (RGKA) and Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme (USIS). Under RGKA, financial assistance of Rs. 1.75 crore will be provided for construction of a sports complex in each rural block of the country to cater to various sports disciplines including Football.
The Scheme of USIS provides for giving grants, inter-alia, for creation of sports infrastructure projects such as football/hockey turf/multi- purpose halls/ athletic tracks, etc. Under the scheme, State Governments, local civic bodies, Schools, Colleges, Universities and Sports Control Boards are eligible for assistance.
Apart from this, the Sports Authority of India is running the following promotional schemes in which football is one of the disciplines and training by experienced coaches with scientific back up is provided to the players to achieve excellence at national/international level:
(i) National Sports Talent Scheme (NSTC)
(ii) Army Boys Sports Company (ABSC)
(iii) SAI Training Centre (STC)
(iv) Special Area Games (SAG)
(v) Centre of Excellence (COE)
In addition, the AIFF has set up 5 National Academies located on each at Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai and two in Goa to impart training to the children born in or after 1997. The players in these Academies come from all over India, selected from the various competitions including the National Championships conducted by AIFF. These AIFF Academies are full-time residential academies where the players undergo full-time training under the supervision of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) accredited coaches.
Further, AIFF in conjunction with FIFA, has started a nation-wide Grassroots program aimed at boys and girls aged between 6 – 12 years of age. Currently, the program is in operation in the States of Maharashtra, Manipur, Goa, Kerala, West Bengal and in the Union Territory of Chandigarh. The aim of the program is to get more boys and girls playing football and having fun in a safe, non-competitive environment.
(d) To ensure that renowned sports persons represent the federations, including AIFF, the Government has issued guidelines in the form of National Sports Development Code of India, 2011 which, inter-alia, prescribe inclusion of prominent sportspersons of outstanding merit as members of the respective sports federations on a tenure basis. The strength of such prominent sportspersons with voting rights should be a certain minimum percentage (say 25%) of thetotal members representing the federations.