AIFF wins AFC President's Recognition Bronze award for Grassroots Football

All India Football Federation has secured its second Grassroots Football award, with the previous one being earned in 2014. The accomplishment reflects AIFF’s commitment to promoting football at the grassroots level, characterised by several innovative initiatives. Numerous special projects have been initiated as part of this endeavour, including the AIFF Blue Cubs programme, Blue Cubs Coaching Courses, Blue Cubs Leagues, Blue Cubs Football Schools, AIFF Grassroots Awards, AIFF Institutional League for Non-Professional Entities, AIFF Project Diamond and several other projects at the grassroots level.

The AIFF’s commitment to expanding participation is evident through various activities and events, including the AFC Grassroots Day 2023, AIFF Academy Accreditation, AIFF Golden Baby Leagues, Grassroots Coach Development Courses, Blue Cubs Leader Courses, and Grassroots Coach Educators Courses. It demonstrates AIFF’s continuous efforts to nurture footballing talent from the grassroots, and ultimately raising the standards of both youth and senior teams in the country.

Other Award Winners:

Award	Winner
AFC Diamond of Asia	Saoud Al Mohannadi of Qatar (posthumous)
AFC Member Association of the Year	Platinum: Uzbekistan Football Association
	Diamond: Lebanese Football Association
	Gold: The Football Association of Hong Kong, China Limited
	Ruby: Guam Football Association
AFC Regional Association of the Year	Central Asian Football Association
AFC President Recognition Awards for Grassroots Football	Gold: Football Australia
	Silver: Guam Football Association
	Bronze: All India Football Federation
AFC Coach of the Year (Women’s)	Shui Qingxia (CHN)
AFC Coach of the Year (Men’s)	Hajime Moriyasu (JPN)
AFC Futsal Player of the Year	Moslem Oladghobad (IRN)
AFC Women’s Player of the Year	Samantha Kerr (Chelsea FC and AUS)
AFC Player of the Year	Salem Al Dawsari (Al Hilal SFC and KSA)
AFC Asian International Player of the Year	Kim Min-jae (Fenerbahce/SSC Napoli/FC Bayern Munchen and KOR)
AFC Youth Player of the Year (Women’s)	Maika Hamano (INAC Kobe Leonessa/Chelsea FC and JPN)
AFC Youth Player of the Year (Men’s)	Kuryu Matsuki (Aomori Yamada High School/FC Tokyo and JPN)
AFC Referees Special Award	Chris Beath (AUS) – Referee,
	Anton Shchetinin (AUS) – Assistant Referee,
	Ashley Beecham (AUS) – Assistant Referee,
	Ammar Aljneibi (UAE) – Support Video Assistant Referee