Union Education and Skill Development Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan today met Secretary-General, FIFA, Ms. Fatma Samoura ahead of FIFA U-17 World Cup. MoS, Sports, Shri Nisith Pramanik; President, All India Football Federation, Shri Kalyan Chaubey; Secretary General, AIFF, Shri Shaji Prabhakaran and officials of Ministry of Education, Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs NVS, CBSE and SAI also attended the programme.

Discussions centred around collaboration with FIFA & UNESCO’s Football for Schools Programme in the schools across the country.

In a joint press conference after the meeting, Shri Pradhan said that the Football for Schools movement espouses the spirit of NEP 2020 and promotes sports-integrated learning. It will boost culture of sports in India and help in developing skills of our students, he further added.

He said that the Government of India is committed to promote sports and create a mass movement for football, especially among school children, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of developing India as a sporting superpower as well as ensuring a Fit India.

Keeping in view the large network of schools, Ms. Samoura and the Minister agreed to take the Football for Schools programme to all the 700+ districts in India. Shri Pradhan informed that Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti will be the nodal agency on behalf of the Ministry of Education to take this initiative forward.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Nishith Pramanik said that this initiative will be a game changer for the future of football game. He also said that Sports Authority of India will extend all support for this initiative.

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MJPS/AK