Arsene Wenger in Bhubaneswar to launch AIFF-FIFA Talent Academy today

Arsene Wenger in Bhubaneswar to launch AIFF-FIFA Talent Academy today

Arsene Wenger, the Chief of Global Football Development of FIFA, reached Bhubaneswar today to launch the AIFF-FIFA Talent Academy in Bhubaneswar under the FIFA Talent Development Scheme. Upon his arrival at the Bhubaneswar Airport, he was accompanied by the AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey, and was greeted by the Odisha Sports Secretary R. Vineel Krishna.

Sergi Amezcua Fontrodona will be appointed as the head coach of the AIFF-FIFA academy. "This is a giant step towards our long-term vision and investing in youth as young as below 14 is perhaps the greatest start. We will start working on such similar endeavours in other parts of the country to ensure talent does not get overlooked. It is certainly exciting times for Indian Football", said AIFF Acting Secretary General Satyanarayan M.

Along with the above development, today on 21st November another important event marks the football calendar of India – the India vs Qatar joint qualification round 2 match for FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027. The venue for the match is the Kalinga Stadium at Bhubaneswar. In a previous round 2 match, India defeated Kuwait by 1-0, and would be hoping to continue its good form into this match as well.