By : L. Ranjit Roy
Hon. Secretary,
All Manipur Football Association.
Vision Asia Project was launched by the AFC President, Mr. Mohammed Bin Hammam in September, 2002. The ultimate goal of the Project is to prepare Asian Countries in best possible football environment so that one day one Asian Country wins FIFA World Cup. The AFC President has a firm belief that Asia with 3.7 billion population has the potential to produce many world class football nations.
India is one of the 8 countries under Vision Asia Project. They are-India, China PR, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Jordan and Yemen. As per the action plan, the Vision Asia Team visited National Association (AIFF) to assess the situation. And, two Pilot Project States were designated in 2005 i.e. Manipur and Delhi.
Thus, the development of Football in Asia is of critical importance to Asian Football Confederation (AFC). With its enormous population and proud football history, India has the necessary resources to be a football power in the years to come. The potential for football in India is enormous but this potential has not been released/explored. To keep pace with the development and changes of modern football, it is essential that all stakeholders of Indian Football work together to achieve the required changes and developments. Vision India is designed to provide this framework. It is noteworthy to mention that football was played in India as early as 1800. The IFA was founded in Calcutta in 1888 and was affiliated directly to FA England the same year. Durand Cup, IFA Shield and Rovers Cup started in 1888, 1891 and 1893 respectively. Thus, India has its own history in Football.
Manipur (along with Delhi) was selected in 2005 as a pilot Project State for Vision India because of its enthusiasm for football, passion, leadership and commitment to progress and changes and because of the huge strides it had made towards strengthening its Core Football Activities. Significant achievements of Manipur in the field of Football prior to the selection for Vision Project and at the same time, main reasons for selecting for the Project were :
The administration of the All manipur Football Association has been so simple and transparent that anybody could easily understand not only its functioning, activities and regulations but also various relevant regulations of the AIFF and FIFA because all these materials were presented in a single bound book in the name of "AMFA Handbook of Rules and Regulations".
AIFF introduced AFC Licence Coaching Courses in India in 1997. In the same year AMFA introduced its own " State Coaching Course" which was conducted every year. Every course consists of 25 participants who are, at least a player who represented the state in the Nationals. AMFA had so far conducted 5 such courses since 1997. The idea was to produce adequate number of Coaches for manning clubs so that all players are properly educated even at the club levels.
Players shall thus have basic technical and tactical knowledge. Even AMFA introduced "one team one coach(a trained one) rule" in 2001-02. AMFA had also conducted/hosted a good number of Refresher Courses /Seminars for coaches with renown Instructors for improving coaching standards of its coaches.
1994 - Jerry Pesek of Czeck Republic
1996 - Alkanov of Russia
2000 - V. Kalimuttu of Malaysia
2003 - Gabriel Joseph of India
2003 - Dr. Victor Stanculescu of USA
3. Referees Development Programme :
AMFA has to-day 2 National Referee Instructors, 2 active FIFA Assistant Referees and 13 active National Referees. For the development of referees, AMFA had organised a number Referees Seminar/ Clinics with renown Resource Persons /Instructors which is unique in the country:
1990 - Milan Datta, Ex-FIFA1993 - Mr. L. N. Ghosh, Ex-FIFA
1994 - Milan Datta, Ex-FIFA
1995 - Mr. S. S. Sarkar, IFA
1996 - Milan Datta, Ex-FIFA
1997 - Mr. Pradip Nag, Ex-FIFA
1998 - UK Bhattacharjee, Assam FA
Mr. Pradip Nag, Ex-FIFA
1999 - Mr. S.S. Shetty, Ex-FIFA
2001 - Mr. S.S. Shetty, Ex-FIFA
Mr. M.G. Suvarna, Ex-FIFA
Mr. Gautam Kar, Ex-FIFA
Mr. Pradip Nag, Ex-FIFA
2003 - Mr. M.G. Suvarna, Ex-FIFA
2003 - Mr. Milan Datta, Ex-FIFA
5 members of the Referees Board, AMFA attended Referee Instructors Course conducted by AIFF in 2002 at Goa. AMFA had also organised examination & an orientation course for Referee Instructors at Imphal for 12 days in 2003 with Mr. M.G. Suvarna, EX-FIFA as the Course Instructor.
Like for the Coaches, AMFA had introduced one Team/Club one Referee Rule in the state in 2000 so as that more referees are there for conducting matches.4. AMFA Football Development Programme :
Since 1997, amfa, on the lines of FIFA-UEFA- AFC, has been conducting regular Football Development Programmes for the age groups of U-12 & U-14 at the state level as well as in the Districts every year. This was one of the main attraction of the AFC and AIFF for the nomination. In the pyramid of Football, Grassroots form the most important phase of Football Development and the basis for club and national teams. Grassroots consists of two phases - the Fun Phase(U: 6-10) and Foundation Phase ( U:11-13). It is, in fact, this
Foundation Phase is the Golden Age of Football Learning because during this age group, young players are considered to be most receptive to learning Stimuli with regard to their co-ordination and motor skills development. 5. Women Football Activity :
AMFA could be the only state in the country having a good number women football competitions in the form of :
National Level - Maharaj Kumar Priyobrata Trophy
State Level - Inter District Tournaments for Senior, Junior & Sub-Junior
- Winners Cup ( AMFA organised), AMFA Women’s League,
Under - 13/ 14 Festivals
Inter Club Leagues - Divisional Inter Club Leagues at the District Level
Manipur organised the 1st Senior Women’s National at Imphal in 1992 which was also the first National Football Championship conducted by AIFF. Out of 18 editions of the tournament held so far Manipur emerged Champions on 16 editions and runners on 2 occasions and 13 consecutive winners in the last 13 years.
7. FUTSAL Competitions :
AMFA introduced FUTSAL Competitions in 2003. Though the competition was held at the Clubs Level upto 2006, now it is held at the Inter District Clubs Level since 2007.
So far more than 269 clubs/teams registered with AMFA/various district associations under the AMFA at 4 Divisions viz, Manipur State League Teams, Super Division, First Division, Second Division and Third Division.
9. Others:
Regarding Media Organisation, the AMFA Media Committee consisted of Sports Journalists of many leading local dailies of the state and as such publicity had been quite successful.
Again, the AMFA Medical Committee had been full of many resourceful persanalities like Dr. A.K. Joy, Dr. Y. Nandabir Singh, Dr. N. Romi Singh,
Dr. L. Birendra Singh etc. Dr. A.K. Joy, an Expert in Sports Medicine had been co-opted to AMFA Executive Council for more than 12 years.
Under Vision Asia 11 key elements of football will be developed so as to catch up with counterparts in Europe and the rest of the world. The eleven elements are :
1. Development of State Associations and Clubs,
2. Development and Expansion of Competitions,.
3. Development of Grassroots and Youths
4. Coach Education,
5. Referees Education,
6. Women Football,
7. Futsal,
8. Media,
9. Sports Medicine,
10. Marketing and
11. Fans.
Thus , AMFA had already covered many of the key and thrust areas of AFC in the Football Development.
The following preparatory activities were taken up for the effective implementation of the Vision Manipur Project:
The Visiting AFC Experts were:
1. Mr. Brendan Menton - Director, National Association/Clubs
2. Mr. P. Sivakumar - Dev. Officer, National Assns./Clubs
3. Mr. Imtiaz Ur Rehman - Dev. Officer, National Assns./Clubs
4. Mr. Gary Power - Director – Referees
5. Mr. Jita Singh - Dev. Officer – Grassroots & Youth
6. Mr. Mohamed Basir - Dev. Officer – Coach Education
7. Mr. Alberto Colaco - General Secretary, AIFF.
Discussions were held on various aspects of the project – organization and management of the State Association, Club development and Competitions, Grassroots & Youth activities, Women Football Coach Education, Referees Education, Marketing and Communications.
2. AMFA President and Hon. Secretary were given an opportunity by the AFC & AIFF to attend the Vision Asia Conference and inauguration of Qingdao and Wuhan City Leagues in China (May 26th to 29th, 2005) to gain knowledge and experience of Vision Asia Project.
4. ‘Vision India-Project Manipur Task Force’ was constituted on 7th August 2005 to coordinate with the Vision India Task Force at New Delhi.
6. On May 17th, 2006 AFC Workshop on Grassroots & Youth Development was conducted by AFC Experts, Mr. Thomas Andreas Flath and Mr. Jita Singh.
7. A two-day Club Development Workshop was conducted on 8th & 9th July 2006 for the MSL Clubs by Mr. Brendan Menton, Imtiaz ur Rehman & Mr. Suvrat Thatte.
8. Mr. Jita Singh, AFC Development Officer revisited Manipur from 27th July to 2nd Aug. 2006 to strengthen the arrangements & preparations for the Grassroots School League.
Of the above 11 key elements of the Vision Asia Strategy, activity had been in full swing on
1. Grassroots Football,
2. Manipur State League,
3. Coaches Education and
4. Referees Education
Grassroots Football:
One of the most important elements and key focuses of Vision India – Project Manipur is the Grassroots Football Activities. In the pyramid of Football, Grassroots form the most important phase of Football Development and the basis for club and national teams.
Grassroots consists of two phases - the Fun Phase(U: 6-10) and Foundation Phase ( U:11-13). It is, in fact, this Foundation Phase is the Golden Age of Football Learning because during this age group, young players are considered to be most receptive to learning Stimuli with regard to their co-ordination and motor skills development.
With these objectives, AMFA, with the wholehearted support from the AFC and AIFF, introduced Grassroot Football Activities for Boys U-11 in 4 Football Districts of Manipur namely, Thoubal, Kakching, Bishnupur and Churachandpur. District Grassroots Schools League was simultaneously launched in the above 4 districts on 9th September, 2006 under the supervision of District Organizing Committees and AMFA Grassroots Committee. In 2007, Imphal East and West had also been included in the programme and the programme also covered the Girls. Lastly in 2008, the Grassroots School Programe covered Jiribam and Ukhrul.
MANIPUR STATE LEAGUE:
For the identification of the Clubs for MSL recommendations were sought from the DSAs/DFAs based on criteria on the lines of AFC plan.
AMFA has successfully launched the 1st manipur state League on the 3rd November, 2006 with the kind support, guidance and presence of dignitaries of AFC and AIFF and the Government of Manipur.
His Excellency, the Governor of Manipur, Dr. S.S. Sidhu was the Chief Guest of the launching on Ceremony in the presence of AFC delegations comprising, of Dato’ Peter Velappan, General Secretary AFC, Mr. Brendan Menton, Director National Associations/Clubs, AFC and AFC Development Officers – Mr. Imtiaz ur Rehman, Mr. Jita Singh, Mr. Suvrat Thatte; and AIFF delegations headed by Shri P.R. Dasmunshi President AIFF, Mr. Auto Mezhur, Vice President, AIFF and Dr. Shaji Prabhakaran, Director – Vision, AIFF.Shri O. Ibobi Singh Hon’ble Chief Minister and Shri Govindas Konthoujam Hon’ble Minister (Works & YAS) were the President and Guest of Honour respectively of the Launching on Ceremony.
The Asian Football Confederation, specially the President, Mohamed Bin Hammam was highly impressed with the successful launch of the Manipur State League. He congratulated AMFA on the achievements made by AMFA over the last eighteen months of the nomination for Vision India Project in administration, club developments, the launch of the Manipur State League, the grassroots schools competitions, coach education and referees development. He assured AMFA of the full support of AFC for the continued development of football in Manipur.
The MSL was conducted on double round league home & away basis. The 5th Manipur State League, 2010 is half-way to completion. The previous winners of the State league are :
Edition year Teams DSA/DFA
With the successful launch of the Vision India Project Manipur in 2006, the following follow-up activities were taken up :
1. Mr. Jita Singh, AFC Development Officer visited Manipur on 18-20 April, 2007 to examine and discuss Grassroots Program to be taken up during 2007-08. He also conducted a Workshop on Grassroots on 20th April, 2007 attended by the Principals, Headmasters, DYSO’s, LOC Convenors and AMFA Officials. Further, he visited newly identified schools of Imphal East and Imphal West for an on the spot assessment.
2. Mr. Brendan Menton, Acting Director, Vision Asia and Director, National Association and Clubs Department, AFC with Mr. Suvrat Thatte, AFC Development Officer and Dr. Shaji Prabhakaran, Director, Vision-AIFF visited Manipur on 28-30 May, 2007. They had review meetings on Project Manipur with AMFA Officials and drafted Goals and Strategies of MSL, 2007-08.
Another meeting was held with the Hon. Secretaries of the MSL Clubs where the problems faced by the AMFA and MSL clubs were discussed and assured of some measures for Financial Relief.
3. Conduct of Coaching Courses:
2 batches of 5-day Introductory Coaching Course for Grassroots Schools were held on residential basis w.e.f. 5-9 July, 2007 and 10-14 July, 2007 with Mr. S. Ekendra Singh, AFC Instructor and Dr. Ksh. Birbal Singh, AIFF Instructor as the Course Instructors.
4. Conduct of Referees Course:
A 5-day Basic Referees Course for Grassroots Schools Teachers was held on residential basis w.e.f. 20-24 July, 2007 with Mr. Jadavchandra Haobam, AIFF Referees Instructor as the Course Instructor to help the School Teachers in the conduct of various Grassroots School Leagues during 2007.
5. In recognition of the progresses made in the implementation of the Vision India Project Manipur, the AFC President, Mohammed Bin Hammam invited 4 members of AMFA namely Shri A. Santoshkumar Singh, President, AMFA, Shri Ch. Birendra Singh, IAS, Vice-President, AMFA, Dr. R.K. Nimai Singh, IAS, Vice-President, AMFA and Shri L. Ranjit Roy, on. Secretary, AMFA for an audience with him and also for witnessing the Inaugural Function of the AFC Cup at Bankok in 2007.
The 4 members of AMFA were given an opportunity of meeting with the President, AFC and had discussions on the Vision Project Manipur specially the financial problems faced by State Associations and the MSL Clubs. The President, AFC expressed the AMFA delegation of extending financial assistance to the State Association.
Shri Y. Mangoljao Singh, Chairman of AMFA Referees Education Sub-Committee was invited by the AFC on the occasion of the AFC Congress 2009 held with a Theme ‘Year of the Referee’. He submitted a comprehensive Refereeing Activity Report of AMFA in the Congress. And, in return, the AFC President, Mohamed Bin Hammam has communicated a feedback on his report.
In 2009, AMFA has introduced Women’s League. ESU and KRYPSA has become the Winner and Runner of the 1st Women’s League. It has produced a new impetus on Women Football in the State.
Finally, it is encouraging to note that Manipur Project has become a matured project And, the Manipur Project will accelerate further with the installation of Artificial Turf Football Field now under progress at National Sports Academy Ground, Khuman Lampak, Imphal under the Win in India with India Project of the FIFA.
as per the latest assessment of AFC.
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