Chief Minister Conrad Sangma announced on Friday that the Meghalaya Government will soon officially launch Mission Football 2.
Speaking to the media, he stated that this initiative aims to promote football at the grassroots level and foster a football culture in Meghalaya.
“I also would like to share with you that we are officially going to launch football mission 2 in the state very soon,” The Chief Minister said.
Mission Football, the State’s Marquee Scheme for Football Development, has ensured the construction of 111 Grassroots Centres across the State, where nearly 8000 children receive training each year.
“You’re aware that we have approximately about 100 plus minus grassroots centers that are functioning under the grassroots football mission program at the grassroots level. We plan to expand that, much much more aggressively in the future, so that more youngsters can get an opportunity to get trained, get professional help, and professional support at the rural level also, and that we hope will then produce many, many more talented footballers,” Sangma said.
“This initiative will allow them to come into the mainstream football scenario at the national as well as hopefully at the International level also. So that’s the first most important thing I’d like to share with you,” he added.
Since its launch, over 25,000 children participate each year in the U-12 Football Tournament and the Subroto Cup State Qualifiers. Associations with the Meghalaya Football Association have enabled the Meghalaya State League and the Meghalaya Youth League. Further, through Meghalaya Tourism, Support of North-East United FC and Shillong Lajong FC has already been explored in the last two years, totalling almost Rs. 10 Cr. in financial sponsorship.
This remarkable investment in the Sports Ecosystem, with football in particular, has yielded noteworthy results. The Meghalaya State Team were the Runners-Up in the Santosh Trophy, 2023, surpassing many strong teams from India in the process. The U-17 Football Team have consistently won medals in football at the Khelo India Games, winning gold in 2024 in Tamil Nadu.
The Government, through the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs, looks forward to continuing their efforts to build on the success of Mission Football and other schemes.