AIFF to hold Masters Programme exam online due to COVID-19 pandemic

The All India Football Federation has decided to hold its Masters Football Management programme entrance examination scheduled for Sunday online in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first set of entrance examination was conducted on February 23 across the country while the second set will be held on March 29.

The first set of entrance examination was held offline on Monday, but keeping the current health crisis in mind, the AIFF has decided to hold this exam online.

The AIFF Masters Football Management Programme is the country's flagship international one-year post graduate course implemented across three cities -- New Delhi (AIFF office), Mumbai (St. Xaviers College) and Cadiz in Spain.

 

India and ATK left-back Pritam Kotal said he would like to take up the course after he call it quits.

"AIFF Masters is a first-of-its-kind project taken by any of the country's sporting federations and it'll surely help the enthusiastic youngsters to pursue a professional career in sports, especially football. Indian Football is expanding and this initiative by AIFF will prove to be a pathbreaking one in the near future," the 26-year-old said.

"After hanging my boots, I'll surely give it a shot to pursue a professional career in football administration per se. As a player, I have learnt the challenges that we face and in the future, I'll look to work on them. AIFF Masters is a course which will help us get a clear view of football administration and operations."

The students of this programme get a chance to spend a month in Cadiz, Spain, to experience and learn how a European football club is managed first hand. The AIFF has signed an MoU with the club that plays in Spanish second division for this arrangement.

A stint with a UEFA-recognised club, which is fully paid for by the federation, gives a student a chance to obtain intensive and extensive experience in European club management, marketing, player management, scouting, analysis and operations.