Women's football was just a formality till now in India: AIFF Prez Kalyan Chaubey

New Delhi: Since a change in the top leadership of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) last year, Indian football has witnessed some important changes.

The latest of them is an overhaul of Women's football in the country. On Friday, AIFF made a fully professional annual contract worth a minimum of INR 3.2 lakhs mandatory for women's footballers in the Indian Women's League (IWL).

To revamp Women's Football, AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey has laid down clear rules and regulations for upcoming seasons.

"I think young girls will be motivated more for this. Financial security will be a big motivation for the girls playing right now and I am hopeful for a change," Kalyan Chaubey told The Bridge.

Talking further about how they arrived at the salary amount, Kalyan said, "We have to look at all the stakeholders of the game. I want that Women footballers get more money but the club is to be considered as well. After looking at all the variables we arrived at the number of INR. 3.2 lakhs."

During his address to the media, Kalyan Chaubey mentioned that women's football in India was just a means of ticking boxes until now.

Explaining his comment later, Kalyan said, "Till now it was just a formality to be very honest. Usually, teams come to one city and the league ends in 15-20 days. Nothing happens before and after that league. This is not the way to develop any sport."

Founded in 2017, the IWL is usually played as a knock-out tournament after four teams qualify through the round-robin group stage.

Introducing radical changes to the league, AIFF is looking to increase the duration and number of teams in the league along with the introduction of the home and away format.

"We decided to increase the number of teams and the duration of the league. The concept of home and away will make it look like a league. There are few financial constraints but as an organization, AIFF has the intent to put this plan into action. AIFF is ready to take the necessary step and fulfill this promise. I am happy that it will help in developing women's football more," Chaubey concluded.

With the Indian women's team reaching the second round of AFC Olympics qualifiers, this decision comes as a welcome change for the footballers who are making waves internationally now.

Talking about the move and the difficulty to execute it, AIFF general secretary Shaji Prabhakaran said, "The thing is that we need to organize the competition in such a way that it creates value for everyone. The players are those who are investing in the game. And it should go in a direction whereby it benefits overall. We are not living in perfect condition. We have to reach that situation. We are working towards that. But we need to work with all the stakeholders and work as one team. That is what is important. That's how we will get to a level where our clubs will be competing at the top level of football in the World."

While Indian football fans are not new to the promises made to them, a hope that these promises will be seen on the ground lingers with the new administration at the helm.