The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has once again revealed its long-standing governance flaws in a year when Indian football sorely needed momentum. The federation only spent INR 4.38 crore, or 51.02%, of the INR 8.78 crore allotted by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for FY 2024–2025.
The funds was not set aside for luxury projects or vanity exercises; it was intended for training camps, domestic contests, and exposure tours, which are the foundation of player development. Failure to use funds raises severe concerns in a federation that is always releasing statements on social media. Is this incompetence, a lack of forethought, or simple negligence? Whatever the cause, the end result is the same: Indian football suffers.
This underutilisation is not restriction, but rather a massive neglect. Compare that to Hong Kong FA, which receives more than INR 55 crore per year, or Singapore FA, which operates on INR 200 crore. How can the AIFF move Indian football forward if it can’t even use the little money it has?
What’s actually concerning is that this underutilisation occurs within a decade-long downward budget cycle. After receiving INR 30 crore in 2019-20, AIFF’s funds have decreased to INR 15 crore and currently stand at INR 9 crore, with no signs of recovery. Meanwhile, other sports, such as golf, tennis, and bodybuilding, have witnessed a growth. To top it all off, yoga funding increased by roughly 400%, while football, India’s second most popular sport, was left out to dry.
Can we expect any genuine development on the pitch if football governance threatens to collapse as a result of its own inaction? The federation can’t even spend the money it already has, how can it be trusted to establish pipelines, nurture talent, or restore India’s football credibility?
