Anilkumar Takes Charge as AIFF General Secretary, Welcomed by Deputy M Satyanarayan and Treasurer Kipa Ajay

Newly appointed AIFF secretary general Anilkumar took office on Monday and was welcomed by treasurer Kipa Ajay and deputy secretary general M Satyanarayan at the Football House in New Delhi.

Anilkumar outlined that the priority at the moment was to improve the quality of the sport in the country and called for all the fans to support the cause.

“So, the priority will be the improvement of quality of football,” Anilkumar began.

“I don’t know how long it will take to make it at that level. But still, we are starting with the hope that we can do something better. We will not give up until we succeed,” he continued.

“And along with you, all Indian football fans, we will continue to work across India with those who love football, who support Indian football,” he added.

Anilkumar rallied all the stakeholders to focus on working together in unison to raise the levels of the sport in the nation.

“So, we have a huge responsibility to improve that ranking. Our focus will be to work together with all the stakeholders to improve the quality of Indian football and make it more acceptable at the international level,” he said.

“With the executive committee’s direction, and along with our team at the AIFF headquarters, we will do better things to improve the system,” Anilkumar added.

The newly-appointer general secretary added that the AIFF could seek the help of state and central governments to sketch out a long-term strategy to take the game forward.

“The priority is always to improve in all areas, starting from the grassroots to the top division. We will sit and plan along with the club owners and investors. We will look for possible support from AFC and FIFA to study in detail, to understand where we are actually lacking,”  the 51-year-old said.

“We will try to seek the help of the state government as well as the government of India to do something in that aspect and also to plan a long-term strategy,” said the Kerala Football Association general secretary.

“I know that this is a very big responsibility. I have been working with the Kerala Football Association for quite a long time and understand the various departments. We will work together as a team along with the member associations and other stakeholders of Indian football to take the game ahead in the coming days,” Anilkumar concluded.