NEW DELHI: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Sunday confirmed Odisha as the venue for the forthcoming Indian Women’s League (IWL) 2020-21 edition.
The dates for the tournament will be announced soon. AIFF appreciated Odisha Government’s longstanding partnership with Indian Football wherein the latter have been providing its stadia and state of the art training facilities to national teams across various age groups and genders – all in an effort to take Indian Football forward together.
Praful Patel, President, AIFF in his statement said: “The Government of Odisha has been a great supporter of Indian Football. We are very thankful to Naveen Patnaik, Vishal Kumar Dev, Vineel Krishna, and the entire Sports Department of Odisha for extending all the support & help to organise the Hero Indian Women’s League. Over the years, the tournament has provided the platform for a lot of budding women footballers to showcase their talent and provide them the option of taking up football as a career.”
The AIFF stays committed to the development of women’s football in the country. India is scheduled to host the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in 2022 which will be followed by the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2022. The 2020-21 Hero IWL, will hence, provide an opportunity for scouts to look at, and unearth new talent for the Women’s National Team.
Tushar Kanti Behera, Minister of State, Sports and Youth Services, Odisha, in his message, said: “Holistic development of sports in India, and Indian football, in particular, is Odisha Sports’ vision. Odisha has been synonymous with women’s football in India for a long. I am an ardent supporter of women’s empowerment, and the hosting of the Indian Women’s League in Odisha allows us the opportunity to contribute to the development of women’s football in the country along with the All India Football Federation. Women sportspersons in India have been bringing huge laurels for the country and I am confident our women footballers will garner more glory in the near future.”
Since the pandemic, Indian Football has been leading it from the front to bring back sporting action in India. It all started with the Hero I-League Qualifiers which were followed by the ongoing Hero Indian Super League and the Hero I-League.
Indian women’s football has also had its fair exposure at the International stage in recent times with the senior women’s team assembling for a two-month training camp on December 1, 2020, in Goa which was followed by three matches in Turkey, against Serbia, Russia, and Ukraine.