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Indian Football Association

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with All India Football Federation (AIFF), the national governing body of Indian football.

Indian Football Association
SportFootball
JurisdictionWest Bengal
Membership23 district associations
AbbreviationIFA
Founded1893; 131 years ago (1893)[1]
AffiliationAll India Football Federation (AIFF)
HeadquartersKolkata
PresidentAjit Banerjee
SecretaryAnirban Dutta
Official website
ifawb.in

The Indian Football Association, abbreviated as IFA, is the organisation that administers football in the Indian state of West Bengal.[2][3][4] It is the oldest football association in India and was founded in 1893.[5][6] Among the founders was former English international Elphinstone Jackson.[7]

The IFA organises tournaments such as the Calcutta Football League, the Calcutta Women's Football League[8] and the IFA Shield.[9] In 2021, the IFA also took an initiative to start its own futsal league.[10] It also sends state teams for Santosh Trophy and Senior Women's National Football Championship.

History

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Contrary to the name, the association does not administer the game in India, a task that falls to the All India Football Federation (AIFF), instead governs the game in the state of West Bengal. However, before the formation of the AIFF, the IFA was in de facto control of football in India by virtue of its administration by Englishmen as well as its affiliation to the Football Association.[11] Hence, all foreign tours were conducted by the IFA and also foreign teams negotiated with the IFA for visits to India. In its formative years, the only Indian representative in the English dominated executive committee was Kalicharan Mitra from the Sovabazar Club.[12] By vigorously promoting the game in Bengal, the IFA became undivided India's premier football body in the early decades of the 20th century.[13]

Through the efforts of Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari (the father of Indian football), A.R. Brown and B.C. Lindsay of Dalhousie AC, and Watson of Calcutta FC, the IFA was established in 1893.[14] A.R. Brown was the first Secretary of the IFA. Norman Prichard, the first Indian to win an Olympic medal, was the Secretary of the IFA in 1900.The most remarkable person to head the IFA was the Maharaja of Santosh, Sir M.N. Roy Chowdhury. During his tenure the IFA played an instrumental role in the formation of the AIFF.[15]

The IFA had organised many historical tournaments like the Trades Cup, the Gladstone Cup, the Cooch Behar Cup and the coveted IFA Shield, prior to the incorporation of Calcutta Football League in 1898. The Trades Cup is the oldest tournament in Kolkata, being instituted in 1889.[16]

Clubs outside Bengal complained about the lack of neutrality in the affairs of the IFA. This disillusionment of clubs and patrons led to the formation of associations such as the Western India Football Association, which preferred to be governed by themselves rather than by the IFA. After years of numerous conferences and meetings, the IFA along with other five regional football associations broke their mutual deadlock to form the AIFF in 1937.[13]

State teams

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Affiliated district associations

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All 23 district of West Bengal are affiliated with the Indian Football Association.

No. Association District President
1 Alipurduar District Football Association Alipurduar
2 Bankura District Football Association Bankura
3 Paschim Bardhaman District Football Association Paschim Bardhaman
4 Purba Bardhaman District Football Association Purba Bardhaman
5 Birbhum District Football Association Birbhum
6 Cooch Behar District Football Association Cooch Behar
7 Darjeeling District Football Association Darjeeling
8 Dakshin Dinajpur District Football Association Dakshin Dinajpur
9 Hooghly District Football Association Hooghly
10 Howrah District Football Association Howrah
11 Jalpaiguri District Football Association Jalpaiguri
12 Jhargram District Football Association Jhargram
13 Kolkata District Football Association Kolkata
14 Kalimpong District Football Association Kalimpong
15 Malda District Football Association Malda
16 Paschim Medinipur District Football Association Paschim Medinipur
17 Purba Medinipur District Football Association Purba Medinipur
18 Murshidabad District Football Association Murshidabad
19 Nadia District Football Association Nadia
20 North 24 Parganas District Football Association North 24 Parganas
21 South 24 Parganas Football Association South 24 Parganas
22 Purulia District Football Association Purulia
23 Uttar Dinajpur District Football Association Uttar Dinajpur

Competitions

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Men's

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Women's

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Youth

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  • CFL 5th Division Group B
  • IFA Nursery League

West Bengal Football League pyramid

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Men's

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Calcutta Football League
Tier Division
1
(Level 5 on Indian Football pyramid) 		CFL Premier Division

↑promote (I-League 3) ↓relegate 4

2
(Level 6 on Indian Football pyramid) 		CFL 1st Division

↑promote 2 ↓relegate 2

3
(Level 7 on Indian Football pyramid) 		CFL 2nd Division

↑promote 2 ↓relegate 2

4
(Level 8 on Indian Football pyramid) 		CFL 3rd Division

↑promote 2 ↓relegate 2

5
(Level 9 on Indian Football pyramid) 		CFL 4th Division

↑promote 2 ↓relegate 2

6
(Level 10 on Indian Football pyramid) 		CFL 5th Division Group A

↑promote 2 ↓relegate 2

7
(Level 11 on Indian Football pyramid) 		CFL 5th Division Group B

↑promote 2

Women's

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Calcutta Women's Football League
Tier Division
I
(Level 3 on Indian Women's Football pyramid) 		CWFL Premier Division A
↑promote (to Indian Women's League 2) ↓relegate
II
(Level 4 on Indian Women's Football pyramid) 		CWFL Premier Division B
↑promote

Evolution

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Years 1889–1893 1893 1893–1993 1993–2019 2019–2021 2021–2023 2023–present
Level
Men's
State leagues 1 None Formation of
Indian Football Association (IFA) 		CFL Premier Division
2 None CFL 1st Division
3 None CFL 2nd Division
4 CFL 3rd Division
5 CFL 4th Division
6 CFL 5th Division Group A
7 CFL 5th Division Group B
Cup competitions Trades Cup Discontinued
IFA Shield Not continued
Women's
State leagues 1 None Kanyashree Cup Premier Division A
2 None Kanyashree Cup Premier Division B
Cup competitions None Women's IFA Shield


Management

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As of 2022

Office Name
President Ajit Banerjee
Chairman Subrata Dutta
Vice-president(s) Biswajit Bhaduri
Saurav Pal
Swarup Biswas
Secretary Anirban Dutta
Assistant Secretary(s) Rakesh Kumar Jha
Sk Nazrul Islam
Sufal Ranjan Giri
Treasurer Debasish Sarkar

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Wadwha, Arjun (19 May 2008). "History of Football in India". thesportscampus.com. TheSportsCampus. Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  2. ^ "Calcutta Football League (CFL) goes bigger than ever for its historic 125th season". thefangarage.com. Kolkata: The Fan Garage. 5 June 2023. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  3. ^ "The passage of football in India". ifawb.org. Kolkata: Indian Football Association. Archived from the original on 29 January 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  4. ^ Gupta, Sabyasachi (29 August 2024). "কলকাতা ফুটবলে রেফারিংয়ে প্রযুক্তির নয়া দিগন্ত, আইএফএ ও যাদবপুর বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের যুগ্ম প্রয়াস". Bong Football. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  5. ^ Majumdar, Rounak (22 April 2019). "The Golden Years of Indian Football". www.chaseyoursport.com. Kolkata: Chase Your Sport. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Chronology of Important Sports Events — West Bengal". wbsportsandyouth.gov.in. Kolkata: Government of West Bengal – Department of youth services and sports. 2017. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  7. ^ IFFHS - Interesting and curious facts about full internationals and national players (1872–1900) Archived 2012-02-07 at the Wayback Machine. iffhs.de. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Indian women football team will play against two top tier-1 Swedish teams". Bet365India. 26 October 2021. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  9. ^ "History in Timeline of Indian Football". the-aiff.com. All India Football Federation. Archived from the original on 8 March 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  10. ^ "First ever Futsal league in Bengal to kick off on 'Poila Baishakh'". The Bridge. 28 January 2021. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  11. ^ "OUR SPORTSMEN: Gostha Pal". 123india.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2007.
  12. ^ Pillai, Manu S (8 June 2018). "How football kicked off in India | As with the English language, when the British transported the sport to India, they didn't expect the 'natives' to beat them at it". lifestyle.livemint.com. Delhi, India: Livemint Delhi. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  13. ^ a b "The Birth of the All India Football Federation | Novy Kapadia". 25 March 2017. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  14. ^ Waris, Sarah (25 January 2020). "Nagendra Prasad — The father of Indian football who removed prejudice from the sport". thebridge.in. Kolkata: The Bridge. Archived from the original on 24 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  15. ^ "About Us". IFAWB. Archived from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  16. ^ D'Mello, Anthony (1959). Portrait Of Indian Sport. P R Macmillan Limited, London. p. 186. Retrieved 25 September 2022.

Further reading

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