13 October 2008

Goa and West Bengal in VA plans

Vision India expands into Goa, the home state of Indian champions Dempo.

The football-mad states of Goa and West Bengal are set to become part of Vision India.

Goa, home to AFC Cup semi-finalists Dempo, and Indian footballing pioneers West Bengal have been nominated by the All India Football Federation to join the AFC programme under the overall Vision Asia banner.

Currently, four regions are attached to Vision India – Manipur, Kerala, Tamilnadu and Delhi.

All regions have good football backgrounds, with the sport enjoying particularly strong support among fans in West Bengal.

AFC had asked the AIFF to nominate two states to join the Vision Asia fray and they wisely chose Goa and West Bengal.

Vision Asia Director Brendan Menton said: “The two regions have traditionally strong footballing backgrounds and we are looking forward to working with them in the Vision India programme.”

Manipur is enjoying healthy progress under Vision India with a competitive state league while the football associations of Kerala and Tamilnadu are also eager to develop the sport further in their regions.

The first step is for AFC Vision Asia representatives to make an assessment visit to the two regions before submitting their recommendations.

Source:The AFC.com