Arsene Wenger, FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development and former Arsenal manager, stated that the major initiative’s objective is to strengthen Indian football.
Following the launch of the Talent Academy at Kalinga Stadium on Tuesday, Arsene Wenger, FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development and former Arsenal manager, stated that the major initiative’s objective is to improve Indian football.
The famed football coach stated to the presenter that they wanted to assist India in educating their kids. “We want to improve it (Indian football) and help India to educate their youth and that’s what is needed,” Wenger told the BBC.
When asked about the Talent Academy’s motivation, the British coach stated that they want to uncover the top talents in the country and provide them with exceptional instruction.
“What we want to achieve is to identify the best talents in the country and the second step is to put the best with the best. You put a good student in a bad class, he becomes a normal student when you put a good student with good students, it’s stimulating and it becomes even better and after that, we want to give quality coaching because we delegate of course a coach from FIFA and we want to cooperate with AIFF to develop that system in the whole country. We want to work together and improve Indian football,” he added.
Wenger went on to say that he feels bad when he looks at Indian football, despite the fact that the country has a population of 1.4 billion people.
“I am a passionate football lover and I am fascinated as well by the history of India. Football is moving very fast, and sport is moving very fast all over the world. So, I cannot leave being responsible for the development of a game and think that big countries like India with 1.4 billion people are not on top-level football, it is criminal. I feel guilty about that even though they are improving and we see that in the game against Qatar. But there still some room and it is one of the obligations is to educate the children,” he added.
When asked about their future intentions, the 74-year-old stated that they must predict how football will function in the future and incorporate it into the training schedule.
In conclusion, Wenger stated that the new programme is not only for boys but also for females.
“You have to imagine, we are in 2023, the place we start to educate now we play in 2030. So, we have to imagine how football be in 2030 we have to be inspired by sports science, and India is a good country for that. We have to anticipate as well how football will work in the future and integrate into the training programme of the young players It is for the boys and girls that we want to do all over the world,” he concluded.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) and FIFA are collaborating with the Odisha government to develop this academy.
The AIFF-FIFA Talent Academy was launched in front of a packed Kalinga stadium during India’s Round 2 match against Qatar in the FIFA World Cup 2026 and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 joint qualification campaign.
