PIB News Update: Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports Shri Kiren Rijiju has informed that Promotion of specific sports discipline is the responsibility of the concerned National Sports Federation (NSF). For promotion and development of sport of Football at national level the Government has recognized All India Football Federation (AIFF) as the NSF. As per AIFF, it is a common practice globally where foreign players are drafted in teams. However, recently there has been huge reduction in appearances in the Indian National Football League (I-League) and Indian Super League (ISL) as per the tournament regulations in hiring the foreign players by the clubs and there are more Indian players in the teams than the foreigners. Mostly the clubs rely on players coming from the north eastern States. The players from north eastern States are part of the leading ISL / I-League clubs and also of National teams / Academies of AIFF.
Under the Khelo India – National Programme for Development of Sports, various initiatives have been undertaken to setup training facilities across India including the north eastern States. Academies are accredited for support under the vertical ‘Support for National/Regional/State Academies’. The following accredited academies having football discipline under the Khelo India Scheme are operational in north eastern States:-
| State | Accredited Academies |
| Assam | National Centre of Excellence, Guwahati |
| Manipur | National Centre of Excellence, Imphal |
Apart from this, the following Khelo India Centres (KICs) are operational in the north eastern States for various disciplines including football:
| State | Name of KICs in football discipline |
| Arunachal Pradesh | (i) Changlang District, Miao, Changlang
(ii) Independent Golden Jubilee HS School, Passighat, Siang |
| Manipur | Th. Birachandra Singh Football Academy, Imphal |
| Nagaland | Greenwood School, Village Kuda, Nagarjan, Dimapur |
| Tripura | Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council, Khumulwng |