West Bengal governed by the Indian Football Association (the IFA) ranks the highest, followed by Maharashtra under Western Indian Football Association (WIFA) ranking second and Kerala under Kerala Football Association (KFA) ranking third, based on the points accumulated for the 2019/20 football season.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF), in its effort to push and instigate the state associations to contribute to the development of football in the concerned states, has introduced a points-based assessment system that indicates the performance of the states on the various operational verticals.
"The operational verticals based on which points have been allotted are Coaches Education (AIFF D-Certificate courses), Grassroots consisting of AIFF Golden Baby Leagues and AIFF E-Certificate Courses, AIFF Academy Accreditation Endorsements, Referees Education (through Cat 3, 4 and 5 courses) and conduction of leagues and competitions including accreditation of academies," the AIFF said in a statement.
The points allotted to the states are based on the activities carried out by the governing associations under the aforementioned verticals with each vertical weighted accordingly. All three states had development officers deputed and funded by AIFF.
AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das congratulated the top three states and added that the ranking system was "very well defined and fair in line with the strategic goals of the AIFF".
"The appointment of Development Officers by AIFF in different states has added immense value and states like Karnataka and Tamilnadu have shown significant improvement from the previous years and hopefully will soon be ranked amongst the top in future years," he said.
( With inputs from ANI )