Arsene Wenger, the legendary former Arsenal coach and current FIFA chief of global football development, has launched a significant initiative to cultivate football talent in India.
At the inauguration of the FIFA-AIFF academy in Bhubaneswar, Wenger outlined his vision for nurturing young Indian footballers to reach the global stage.
Arsene Wenger, the former Arsenal coach and current FIFA chief of global football development, has pledged his commitment to developing football talent in India.
During the inauguration of the FIFA-AIFF academy in Bhubaneswar, Wenger stated, “Our project is to identify talent in India, to put the best talent together, give them a good coaching programme, give them a good education and a good level of competition and make them great players.”
Wenger did not specify a timeline for when India might start producing top-level players but emphasised the importance of grassroots development. He remarked, “With such a huge population, the potential in India is huge, for you to be on top of the world. That is what we want to achieve together.”
The academy will initially train fifty under-14 players, including fifteen from Odisha, for two years, with the Odisha government providing boarding and education, and FIFA supplying technical expertise and coaching. Sergi Amezcua Fontrodona has been recommended as the head coach.
Wenger underscored the importance of starting young in football, asserting, “It’s just down to educating your children (in football)… you cannot start playing football at 15 years of age, you have to start at 5 or 6 years of age.”
After inspecting the academy’s facilities, Wenger was optimistic about the future, saying, “Hopefully in the future, we will be rewarded if we do well. Our focus now is give this academy first and get the first players out in three-four years who can play at the top later.”
AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey expressed hope that the academy would aid India in qualifying for the FIFA U-17 World Cup on merit, a tournament in which India participated as the host nation in 2017.
Wenger’s involvement signals a significant step in elevating Indian football to the global stage.