Throwing his weight behind the FIFA Under-17 World Cup to be held in India this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the mega-event should serve as a catalyst for lifting the profile of the game in the country, PTI reported.
In a statement released on Tuesday, PM Modi spoke about how the competition can spark a monumental change in India.
In a statement released earlier today, Prime Minister Modi spoke about how the #FIFAU17WC 2017 can spark a monumental change in India. pic.twitter.com/hWOIZLD5Ez
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) January 17, 2017
“India is going to host the FIFA U17 World Cup in 2017, but successful hosting of the event alone cannot be our final objective. FIFA U17 World Cup India 2017 must be a catalyst for change, the topping point for football in the country, which can only be done by creating a mass movement around it,” the Prime Minister said.
“The objective is to give an opportunity to every child in the country to play football,” he said in a statement posted at the official website of the All India Football Federation.
A legacy programme of the FIFA U-17 World Cup ‘Mission XI Million’ has been initiated as a school contact initiative with an aim at attracting children from around 15000 schools to the beautiful game.