Trials in Dubai for aspiring Indian footballers

Dubai: Indian football is confident of finding at least a handful of players in the UAE to serve the national cause. With this aim in mind, Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the All India Football Federation (AIFF) have joined together to conduct a scouting day for junior Indian footballers living in the UAE.

Led by former national team striker Abhishek Yadav, the scouting day for juniors will be held in Dubai on January 26. Players born between 2001 and 2003 have been asked to report to Yadav at King’s School in Al Barsha. The trials will be held in two sessions with the first one from 8 to 11am and the second one from 4pm to 7pm.

Players who get shortlisted on Friday will be called for additional trials on Saturday and Sunday at a venue that is yet to be decided. Players have been requested to carry a clear photocopy copy of their Indian passport (first and last pages), their playing kit and drinking water.

This is the second instance that the AIFF is reaching out to tap talent from the Gulf region with the inaugural session in June 2016 seeing more than 200 under-16 players turn up for a possible spot in the Indian team that participated at the 2017 Fifa Under-17 World Cup.

The AIFF is now looking to bolster India’s junior national teams, including the U-16 team that will participate in the AFC U-16 Championship later this year.

Kushal Das, General Secretary, AIFF, noted that youngsters can dream big if selected for the national cause. “We have two interesting projects going on in Indian football. One is the Indian Arrows with the U-19s playing in the I-League and the U-16 national team which has taken off on a foreign exposure campaign ahead of the AFC Championship in September this year,” Das said.

“And by paying attention to this age group we are essentially preparing for the Fifa U-20 World Cup in 2021 and the Olympic Games in 2024,” he added.

Parents, guardians, supporters and friends of players have been specifically asked to stay away from the trials. Registration form can be downloaded from http://bit.do/AIFFscouting.