New Delhi: The Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) has decided to give the All India Football Federation $250,000 per year till 2010.
FIFA President Joseph Sepp Blatter, currently in India on a three-day visit, while announcing the largesse said Indian football will improve significantly by 2010.
On Monday, Blatter had called for Indians to show more support for football and also improve the infrastructure in order to compete with other nations in the region.
"The Indian dream of reaching top international levels can be realised through the work done by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) with support from the government and corporate houses," Blatter said.
"We are here not to fight against an established sport. I admire the game called cricket and I don’t want to change the most established sport in your country now," he said.
"But I always campaign for football because in this game there is no difference between caste, culture and creed, or rich and poor. It is the fascination of this game that attracts people all over the world."
He said that it would be great to see India participating in a World Cup and FIFA can proactively assist in the development of a sport.
Blatter said football’s future lay in Asia, since Europe was "saturated for foreign players and coaches".
"Good coaches will come to India if a good technical and administrative infrastructure is in place," he said.
Blatter also dismissed India’s chances of hosting a World Cup in the near future.
"I wonder when India will have the infrastructure to host even age-group tournaments, let alone the World Cup," he said.
India are currently 165th in world rankings and 34th in Asia.
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