AIFF & CPSFI come together to promote football at the grassroots.
8th August 2020
All India Football Federation (AIFF) & Cerebral Palsy Sports Federation of India (CPSFI) as a step towards the collaboration between the two sports Federations, come together to promote football at the grassroots. A webinar was organised on 8th August by CPSFI. The objective was to introduce E-Pathshala Football program to representatives of CPISRA, IFCPF, FIFA, NPCs from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal, CP Football federations of Bangladesh.
Team CPSFI, headed by Rajesh Tomar, was joined by
Craig Carscadden, Chief Executive (CPISRA),
Sam Turner, CEO / Secretary General (IFCPF),
Tom Langen, Technical Director (IFCPF),
Chokey Nima, FIFA Regional Technical Consultant, South Asia,
Swati Kothari, GM (S&O) & International Relations,
Rathin Saha, Sr Manager, Grassroots, AIFF
Khademudin Allahyar, General Secretary, NPC Afghanistan and his team
Md Badiuzamman-al-Amin, Founder & Secy, Bangladesh CP Football Association & his team
Ahmed Mohamed, Secretary General, Maldives Paralympic Committee & his team
Aflah Hafiel, Secretary General, Sri Lanka CP Football Federation & his team
and representatives of State CP Federations, NGOs, physiotherapists and media.
Mr Rajesh Tomar, President CPSFI in his welcome note said,
"We have been doing awareness programs promoting cp sports across the country to reach out to children at the grassroots level through our state federations and I must say we have been overwhelmed with the impact we are making. Many NGOs have joined us and many are in the process of joining. Football is a sport which is quite popular. CP football has been close to our heart and we have made good progress in promoting the sport in India. We had initiated National CP Football Championship 2020, scheduled for March 2020, but had to be postponed due to the pandemic. In the process, we reached out to AIFF to support us in the journey. I reached out to Mr Kushal Das, Gen Secy, AIFF and he was kind enough to connect us with Mr Isac Doru, Technical Director AIFF. Isac was passionate about cp football and reaching it to the cp kids through AIFF’s grassroots development program. A couple of meetings and we had Rathin Saha working closely with us in this journey. AIFF agreed to give us technical support".
Ms. Swati Kothari, General Manager, AIFF, praised CPSFI for taking up the initiative as well.
"It is a nice initiative from grassroots as well as the developmental perspective. AIFF will be happy to work alongside CPSFI in order to promote grassroots football among those kids and move forward together," she stated.
Mr. Chokey Nima in his short address said,
"The intention to promote grassroots football amongst the less privileged kids is our priority. It falls under the domain of the AIFF and FIFA. We will work towards achieving the target. It's wonderful to be a part of this project."
Mr Rathin Saha, introduced to the participants, the objectives, process, modules and step by step registration to the SAI and AIFF online grassroots E-Pathshala Football program which is open for registration for young football enthusiasts from 15 August 2020.
The E-Pathshala program is built with option for the CP participants to register their disability during the registration process. The participants get to download an e-participation certificate on successful completion of the program. CP children from the South Asian countries can participate too.
To participate in the SAI-AIFF E PATHSHALA, The Opening Ceremony is scheduled for 15th August 2020 at 03:00 pm.
Zoom ID for the Opening ceremony of E-Pathshala Football (Grassroots and Intermediate) Webinar ID: 811 4131 5372
Please click the link below to join the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81141315372
The opening ceremony will also be live-streamed on Facebook. Click the link below to view on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SAILNCPETRIVANDRUM/
The website link below which will activate on 15th August: saiaiffepathshala.in