The worldwide football governing body FIFA has decided to give a further boost to its ties with the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) here and strengthen cooperation in the ‘Football for School’ programme in Odisha besides exploring opportunities to expand it across India and South Asia.
A letter of intent has been signed in this regard between FIFA Foundation CEO Youri Djorkaeff and KISS founder Dr Achyuta Samanta.
The Football for Schools programme is already active across ten FIFA member-associations.
The FIFA has selected the KISS as the nodal agency for promotion of football as it was encouraged by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s emphasis on promoting sports and sporting activities in the State, the FIFA CEO said during the signing-in ceremony.
In October last year, the KISS had announced the launch of India’s first-ever FIFA Football for School programme in association with the FIFA. The KISS would act as a knowledge hub for Football for Schools training and a logistical hub for Football for Schools balls distribution.
Djorkaeff said the Football for Schools programme is launched to positively impact the lives of 700 million children.
Dr Samanta said, “Football is a global game and we have already seen the power it has to unite, inspire, and educate in every corner of the world through the work already done by this programme.”
Notably, Swiss Member of Parliament Dr Niklaus Samuel Gugger is the Global Ambassador of KISS.
