New Delhi, Nov 25 (IANS) The West Bengal government has offered land and infrastructural support to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to built a state of the art academy in Burdwan.
The government has proposed 17 acres of land for the academy, which will also get technical support from German giants Bayern Munich. In fact, the West Bengal government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bayern in 2007.

The state government initially was looking to set up the academy in collaboration with a corporate but now has offered the project to the AIFF. The national federation’s ambitious plan to build a Rs.1 billion academy in Goa in association with telecom major Bharti has been put on hold due a tussle between two powerful ministers in Goa government.

AIFF vice-president Subrata Dutta told IANS Wednesday that to look into the nitty-gritty of the West Bengal government’s proposal, a four-member committee has been formed and they will inspect the site in Burdwan, Thursday.

“It is a 17 acres of land and we hope that we will get all support from the state government. They have promised to give us all the infrastructural support and Bayern Munich will provide us the technical support,” Dutta said.

“After inspecting the site we will submit our report to the executive committee,” he added.

Dutta also said that West Bengal government has agreed to increase the area of land if needed.

“The site is adjacent to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) complex and if needed we can also use the facilities there as well,” said Dutta.

He also said that Kalyani, which is around 50 km from Kolkata, has offered training facilities for the national team.

“Today we inspected the training facilities in Kalyani. The local administration has offered a good stadium and residential facilities for the team,” he said.