Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday unveiled “Football for All,” a programme by FIFA in Odisha in collaboration with KIIT & KISS, to encourage football among schoolchildren.
More than 43,000 footballs will be given out as part of the project to kids in roughly 2000 schools. According to a FIFA official, this is the organization’s first campaign in India to encourage schoolchildren to play football.
Patnaik, who joined the show via a virtual platform, claimed that football is the most played sport and that it unites people all around the world.
He expressed his hope that these alliances and programmes will aid in India’s football development “Development of football, especially women’s football, is a major concern for us. We will have good infrastructure and coaching programmes as a result of the World Cup.”
The Chief Minister stated that it is an honour for Odisha to host the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup and added, “To bring the greatest football to the state, we have cooperated with AIFF and FIFA. The World Cup will significantly advance the growth of football in the state.”
In addition to thanking FIFA for selecting Odisha for the programme and praising KIIT-KISS founder Achyuta Samanta for bringing the programme to Odisha, he expressed his satisfaction over the program’s debut.
In order to advance football in Odisha, Patnaik was looking forward to future collaborations with FIFA.
According to Tusharkanti Behera, the state of Odisha is making significant investments in sports infrastructure as a result of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s vision. The FIFA cooperation would support the growth of football in schools, he added.
The Chief Minister’s vision, according to KIIT-KISS founder Achyuta Samanta, has aided in the growth of an outstanding sports eco-system in Odisha. According to him, the logistical centre for this programme has been KIIT and KISs.
Fatimata Sow Sidibe, the director of FIFA’s “Football for Schools,” joined via a virtual platform and expressed appreciation for the Chief Minister and the Odisha government’s role in promoting sports in the state of Odisha.
She claimed that soccer is a potent tool for transforming society and that FIFA’s “Football for All” initiative aims to make the sport genuinely international. Children will receive support from the programme for developing life skills, she noted.
The Sports Minister gave footballs to the pupils of Unit-9 Girls’ High School and Capital High School in Bhubaneswar on this occasion.
Prasanta Patnaik 
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