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XtraTime Web Desk: Hosting two FIFA World Cups in under four years, and top-notch performances by National Teams in International competitions have defined Indian Football in the last 5 years. Speaking on the sidelines of FICCI’s GOAL Summit 2019, AIFF’s Senior Vice President, Mr Subrata Datta said: “Indian Football his growing exponentially. It has grown by leaps and bounds. The holistic development of Indian football over the last few years has been a major achievement, and all associated with it should be proud.” “Indian football is being talked about in the nook and corner of the world, be it in terms of our National Teams, or the FIFA World Cups that we have hosted, and will host,” he added. India hosted the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 in 2017 and is slated to the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2020. The performances of the Indian National Teams have been noteworthy as well, especially the senior team’s 4-1 win against Thailand in the AFC Asian Cup, the women’s team clinching the 5th successive SAFF title in a row, and the U-16 team reaching the quarterfinals of the AFC U-16 Finals, before going down by a solitary goal against Korea Republic. “We have six FIFA approved stadiums, and we plan to add four more to them by 2022. The National Centre of Excellence which is coming up in West Bengal will be a state of the art centre which will help in the training of players, coaches, referees and officials,” the Senior Vice President explained. “Today we have 60 accredited academies coupled with youth leagues and baby leagues. There are over 650 baby leagues being conducted with over 30,000 kids participating and this number will double over the years.” Courtesy: AIFF