Mumbai, Jan 16: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday virtually inaugurated two football pitches developed by the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) at the Centre of Excellence in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai.
The brand-new Football Maharashtra Center of Excellence will be utilized as a practice facility by the teams participating in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022, which begins on January 20.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) President and LOC Chairman of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022, Praful Patel attended the virtual event along with Aaditya Thackeray, Maharashtra’s Minister of Tourism and the President of Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA), and Eknath Shinde, Cabinet Minister of Urban Development.
The Chief Minister spoke about his desire to see sports blossom in Navi Mumbai, “I am thrilled that CIDCO has looked into converting its land into a project that is sports related, something which otherwise would have been converted into a commercial space with buildings.”
“I and Praful (Patel) come from a time when cricket dominated the sporting horizon. Now, its football and through these projects, a systemized approach for the future generation will be implemented wherein infrastructure would play a major role.
“I am thrilled that all involved at Navi Mumbai is taking up this stand and has done so to build the city into a sports city,” Thackeray added.
The 20th edition of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022 will feature 12 teams, which have been divided into three groups.
Group A includes India, China PR, Chinese Taipei, and Iran, while Group B includes Australia, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia. Meanwhile Japan, Korea Republic, Vietnam and Myanmar have been slotted in Group C.
The tournament will act as the final stage of Asian qualification for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
With Australia having already qualified as co-host, five more teams will qualify for the main event directly while two of them will progress to the inter-confederation play-offs.
Speaking on the occasion, Patel said, “I am happy that the first FIFA Standard Centre of Excellence is coming up at CIDCO Navi Mumbai.”
“I am thrilled that this world class facility as it stands today is ready for us with 2 football pitches in place, which has been offered as a practice facility to the National teams assembled for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022.
“I must say that full credit goes to the Government of Maharashtra and importantly Aaditya (Thackeray) who stepped in to create football infrastructure with an aim to build India as a football nation as well. The aim via creating infrastructure is to bring greater tournaments to India and Maharashtra particularly.”
Expressing his views, Aaditya Thackeray said, “It was back in 2017 when the idea of building a football future in Maharashtra was conceived. It was during a visit to the D.Y Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai to witness a FIFA Under-17 World Cup match that we saw enthusiasm aplenty.”
“Later we travelled to Kolkata and saw a bigger enthusiasm for the sport. After coming back, we tabled a plan for the future and the Mumbai Football Arena was conceived.
“The stadium, subsequently turned out to be lucky for the Indian national team as we boast of an unbeaten record here, which motivated us to look at the sport with a bigger perspective.
“The Football Maharashtra Center of Excellence at Navi Mumbai is well connected to the new international airport, the metro, schools, colleges and is situated a few kilometres off the expressway, which makes it an ideal set up,” added Thackeray.
