Bhubaneswar, October 10: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday launched ‘Football for All’ in Odisha to take the culture of football to the grassroots. The programme has been initiated by FIFA in Odisha in partnership with KIIT & KISS. Over 43,000 footballs will be distributed to children in about 2,000 schools.
This is the first such programme of FIFA in India that aims at promoting football among school children.
Joining the programme on a virtual platform, CM Patnaik said that football is the most popular game and brings together people across the globe.
Hoping that these partnerships and initiatives will help football development in our country, he said, we are quite focused on football development, especially women’s football. As a legacy of the World Cup, we will have good infrastructure and coaching programs, he added.
Saying that it’s a proud moment for Odisha to be the host venue for the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup, he said, we have partnered with AIFF and FIFA to bring the best of football to the State. This World Cup will give a major boost towards development of football in the State, he emphasised.
Expressing happiness over the launch of the programme, he thanked FIFA for choosing Odisha for this program and appreciated the role of Dr Achyuta Samanta and KIIT-KISS for bringing this programme to Odisha.
Sports Minister Tusharkanti Behera said FIFA partnership will help promote football at school level, he added.
MP and founder of KIIT & KISS Dr Achyuta Samant, Director of ‘Football For Schools’, FIFA, Fatimata Sow Sidbe, Chief Secretary Suresh Mohapatra, School & Mass Secretary Aswathy S and Commissioner-cum-Secretary Sports Vineel Ksrishna also spoke.
Minister Behera presented footballs to students of Unit-9 Girls’ High School and Capital High School Bhubaneswar in the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
