Abbreviation | WIFA[1] |
---|---|
Formation | 1902 (as Bombay Football Association) |
Headquarters | Mumbai |
Region served | Maharashtra, India |
Membership | 36 district associations |
President | Praful Patel |
Secretary | Souter Vaz |
Parent organization | All India Football Federation (AIFF) |
Website | wifa |
The Western India Football Association, abbreviated as WIFA,[2] is the state-level body for governing football activities in the Indian state of Maharashtra.[3][4][5] It is affiliated with the All India Football Federation, the sports national governing body. The WIFA sends state teams for Santosh Trophy and Senior Women's National Football Championship.
The Bombay Football Association was established in the Bombay province of 1902. It was amalgamated with the older Rovers Football Cup Committee to form the Western India Football Association on 12 July 1911.[6] Justice Russel became president of the WIFA while P. R. Cadell became vice-president,[7] and the objective of was to improve the sport of football in the Bombay state, and in the present-day Maharashtra. Before that, football games were organised for the Rovers Cup, which is India's second oldest football tournament started in 1890.[7]
Then in 2011, after the sudden rise in the popularity of football in India, WIFA decided to revamp the Maharashtra Football System. The first thing they decided to do was renovate Mumbai's only national football stadium, the Cooperage Ground.[8] After that they will work on starting the first ever statewide football league in Maharashtra known as the Maha League. They also announced plans to revive the Rovers Cup which had its last tournament in 2001.[9]
The Maharashtra pyramid consists of the district leagues, of which the Mumbai Football League is the primary league. There is no national state league yet, although the proposed first tier Maha League was never implemented. The lower district leagues are in second tier, followed by lower leagues.[10]
Level |
League(s)/Division(s) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
State National League |
No state league | |||||||
District National League |
Mumbai Football League |
NDFA Elite Division League |
Kolhapur Senior League |
Pune Football League |
Aurangabad Football League |
Thane Super Division |
Nashik Football League |
Palghar Football League |
District League |
MFA Super Division |
Pune First Division | ||||||
3 |
Mumbai Division One |
Zone | President | Website |
---|---|---|
Mumbai | Aditya Thackeray | Mumbai Football Association |
Pune | Vishwajeet Kadam | Pune District Football Association |
Nagpur | Harish Vora | |
Aurangabad | Captain Rafat Afandi | |
Thane | Alphonso Santiago | Thane District Football Association |