All India Football Federation (AIFF) general secretary Kushal Das on Friday said its “endeavour” is to start the U-17 Women’s World Cup team camp in the first week of August, hoping to find a way out amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said they are also aiming to start the U-16 team camp, which is the federation’s top priority at the moment, around the same time as there is a tournament scheduled for November in Bahrain.
Talking about the senior men’s national team, Das said the camp will likely begin in September in Bhubaneswar as the capital city of Odisha is slated to host India’s two World Cup Qualifiers in October and November respectively. “Our first priority is to start the U-16 camp since they have a tournament in November. That is the first endeavour. We are also conscious of fact that the U-17 World Cup team has to start its preparation. We should be able to start both camps by first of week of August,” Das told AIFF.
While the venue for the senior national team is fixed, a lot also depends on the state Governments as far as organising the camps for the U-16 outfit and U-17 women’s side are are concerned.
“We are in talks with various state Governments and the Sports Authority of India (SAI). Hopefully, in next one week, we will finalise a date for the camps. “For the senior team the aim is to start in early September.
It is a very tricky situation but we will look to do our best under the circumstances.”