Manchester United to tie-up with AIFF-Bharti Academy

New Delhi, Jan 21 (IANS) European and English champions Manchester United have shown interest in providing technical support to the proposed All India Football Federation (AIFF) academy which will come up in Goa in association with telecom major Bharti.

AIFF vice-president Subrata Dutta told IANS Wednesday that the English premier club has assured the federation of its support but the finer details of project are yet to be finalised.

'The finer points of the project are yet to be worked out. Our acting president has assured (us) that there won't be any more roadblocks to the academy,' Dutta said after the executive committee meeting of the federation here Wednesday.

The academy was supposed to come up last March but ran into rough weather with two powerful Goan politicians - Minister for Urban Development Joaquim Alemao, who is also Goa Football Association (GFA) president, and Housing Minister Mickky Pacheco - locking horns over the academy at Cuncolim.

During the meeting, some members suggested a special committee be formed to look after the academy. The proposal will be discussed in the next meeting.

It was also the first meeting chaired by Praful Patel, who is also the Union Civil Aviation Minister, after being elected as the acting president last month in place of Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, who is critically ill.

The Nehru Cup will be held in August most likely in Delhi and the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup in Goa. IFA Shield and Durand Cup will be held in September and December, it was decided.

The 63rd National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy will be held in Tamil Nadu in May while Coca Cola has been roped in as the title-sponsor for the Under-16 Mir Iqbal Trophy.