Abhishek Yadav becomes first ex-India international to become National Team director

What's the story?

Abhishek Yadav is set to be announced as the National Team Director by All India Football Federation. Although he has not been officially announced yet, he has already taken charge of his duties from the beginning of this month.

This will also be the first time ever that a former Indian international has been appointed as the National Team Director by AIFF.

In case you didn't know...

Abhishek Yadav had made 36 appearances for India between 2002 and 2011. He has also represented Mahindra United, Churchill Brothers, Mumbai FC, and Mumbai City FC.

He is said to have impressed AIFF chief Praful Patel with his work as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the India U-17 side during the FIFA U17 World Cup.

The heart of the matter

Abhishek's role would comprise of development of the national teams and players across all age groups for both men and women. Yadav has also been the Head of Scouting and played a crucial role in initiating the international scouting project in partnership with the Sports Authority of India.

This project was aimed at getting young talents for India's squad for the FIFA U17 World Cup in 2017 and they also succeeded in it by scouting two players who later went on to represent India in the World Cup.

AIFF international scouting project also scouted two players who were later roped in by ISL teams. Yadav also negotiated the contracts with the India U17 players when AIFF wanted to keep them together for the Indian Arrows project in the I-league.

What's next?

Abhishek Yadav is expected to start a nationwide scouting project soon encompassing all age groups so that fresh talent can join clubs and the Indian team at multiple levels and help India reach new heights in world football.

Author's take

AIFF has moved away from appointing political personalities as the team director and for the first time appointed an actual footballer for this job who may understand the bits of the game better and help in the betterment of the beautiful game in India.