Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan signs MoU with FIFA and AIFF for implementing Football4Schools initiative in India

Tags: Sports

Union Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, on behalf of the Ministry of Education signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with  world football governing body FIFA and All India Football Federation (AIFF) for the ‘Football4Schools’ initiative in India at Mumbai on 30 October 2022.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Minister of State for Home Affairs and Youth Affairs & Sports Nisith Pramanik, President, All India Football Federation, Kalyan Chaubey were also present on the occasion.

The MoU was signed at the sidelines of the final of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2022 being held in Mumbai, which was won by Spain.

 The Minister said that football is an immensely popular sport and the Football4Schools program uses it as a positive tool to inspire children and ensure their holistic development. He further said that ‘Football4Schools’ aims to empower 2.5 crore young boys and girls in India through sports-integrated learning.

Football4 School initiative

The Football4 School initiative has been launched by FIFA with a $100 million budget in 2018. The initiative targets to reach over 700 million children across the world with special emphasis on reaching out to all the tribal communities of the world. Of the targeted children at least 50% of them will be girls.

The aim of the initiative is to educate children on various topics, not just about football, and to make them better citizens of their country.

Fédération internationale de Football Association(FIFA)

It is an international organisation that governs football, futsal and beach soccer in the world.  At present 211 associations are its members representing their countries .

It also organises the men's and women’s  football world cup.

 It was founded in 1904 in Paris , France .

Headquarters : Zurich, Switzerland 

President : Gianni Infantino