In recent months a lot of changes have been witnessed especially after the change in the All India Football Federation’s leadership. However one of the most significant changes in recent times is the overhaul of Women’s football in the country. Now AIFF will provide an annual contract worth a minimum of INR 3.2 lakhs mandatory for women’s footballers in the Indian Women’s League (IWL).
AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey believes that this will motivate the girls to play football and not care about their daily livelihood. He has also chalked out some rules to revamp the entire Women’s football system in the country.
“I think young girls will be motivated more for this. Financial security will be a big motivation for the girls playing right now and I am hopeful for a change,” Kalyan Chaubey told The Bridge.
Chaubey highlighted that he wants the women footballers to earn more money but he had to settle it with the club and they together reached at a middle ground of 3.2 lakhs per annum. “We have to look at all the stakeholders of the game. I want that Women footballers get more money but the club is to be considered as well. After looking at all the variables we arrived at the number of INR. 3.2 lakhs.”
He criticized his predecessor and explained how women’s football before this was just ticking boxes. He explained how the league happens in one city and teams come and play and the league runs for 15-20 days and nothing happens before or after the league. He felt it was a very wrong practice and not a way one can develop the sport in that country.
“Till now it was just a formality to be very honest. Usually, teams come to one city and the league ends in 15-20 days. Nothing happens before and after that league. This is not the way to develop any sport,” he explained.
Introduced in 2017, the IWL was a knockout tournament with four teams going through to the next round through a round-robin format. However, AIFF is increasing the games and also the teams and will be introducing a home-and-away format for the league to flourish.
While Chaubey has shared that there will be some financial constraints, he still goes ahead with the idea in order to help Women’s football grow in the county. “We decided to increase the number of teams and the duration of the league. The concept of home and away will make it look like a league. There are few financial constraints but as an organization, AIFF has the intent to put this plan into action. AIFF is ready to take the necessary step and fulfill this promise. I am happy that it will help in developing women’s football more,” Chaubey concluded.
It will be interesting to see how things unfold in this new format. It will surely grab more eyeballs and attention. The home-and-away format will create an attachment with the locals and the clubs and will make it more sustainable in future.
