By Former Arsenal manager and legend, Arsene Wenger signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on behalf of International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) with All India Football Federation (AIFF) to set up the inaugural FIFA-AIFF Talent Academy at the Odisha Football Academy in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.
Arsene Wenger expressed his pleasure to be in India and spoke about developing the sport in India as he insisted upon finding effective solutions in consultation with all stakeholders of the game in the country.
“I am very happy to be in India, and I have seen huge potential here. We can all do better together. The one thing I am certain of is that, be in football or any other field, we can only progress through educating young people,” said Mr. Wenger in a joint press conference with AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey.
He further added, “We are further convinced that you have to put the best talent against each other together. Football is learnt with the difficulties you experience by playing against good players. We want to identify good talents, give them the best coaching, quality competitions, and after that, the final step is to integrate them within the first team.”
He also gave his opinion on India being referred as the “Sleeping Giant” previously, “The giant is here and is heading for hiding. No more sleeping. That’s how the AIFF is now. This creates a lot of possibilities, the world of football is moving forward and 20% of population can’t be left behind. We can all see that the giant of football is awake, and we will definitely see some football development.”
Mr. Kalyan Chaubey spoke about the role of the Indian Super League (ISL) and other stakeholders in developing Indian football. He motivated all authorities to work in cooperation and ensure that Indian football reaches new heights.
Mr. Chaubey said, “The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is having a good synergy with the Indian Super League (ISL), the club owners, and all stakeholders of Indian football. We all have been working for the development of football. The AIFF is asking everyone to push together for progress in the same direction. We can take the support of all stakeholders, so that we can feel proud of this day in the future.”
Mr. Wenger agreed on the need to work collaboratively while also emphasizing the need of having 40 such development academies to meet the needs of India. He was convinced that proper solutions were possible with the help of all concerned stakeholders.
“This is something that we need to do together. We are here to help. We do not want anything. We just want to give from everything that we have learnt from all the countries in the world. The top one percent footballing countries in the world are the ones with better systems of education. There is a huge correlation between the quality of education and the results of the first-team,” said Arsene Wenger.
He also explained, “In the last three days, we spoke a lot about the promise from both sides. I feel that we have cooperation here. Ideally we want 40 academies so that nobody misses to detect talent in this country. Of course, we have to find the most efficient solution and hence we need the cooperation of everybody who has potential here, right from the states, the AIFF, from sponsors who want to develop football, that’s why it’s difficult, but at the same time it is very exciting and interesting for us.”
Arsene Wenger
The Frenchman was the longest serving manager of Arsenal from 1996 to 2018 and won major accolades including 3 Titles and 7 FA Cups. He won his third title in 2004, earning the distinction of guiding his team to an undefeated domestic league season.
Due to his studious demeanour and approach to the game, he was nicknamed “Le Professeur” or The Professor. He is also one of the most celebrated managers of his generation having changed how the sport is played. During his managerial career, he earned a reputation for spotting young talent and developing a robust youth system.
After leaving Arsenal, Arsene Wenger became FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development in 2019. He is responsible for overseeing and driving the growth and development of the sport.
