India U16 coach Bibiano Fernandes credits AIFF’s scouting system for success of youth teams

India U-16 head coach Bibiano Fernandes has lavished praises on the All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) scouting program for playing a huge role in the success of India’s youth teams in recent times.

India U16 team has qualified for the AFC U16 Championship three times in a row from 2016 now and the India U19 and U20 teams have achieved some brilliant results in the recent past.

The Goan coach was quick to hail chief scout Vikram Nanivadekar and suggested that a proper scouting process has led to the development of the Indian national teams at the youth level.

During a Live chat with Indian Football team’s official Instagram page, Fernandes said, “Our scouting system is in good hands. It is headed by Vikram Nanivadekar who is doing a great job. Sometimes I also go out and help scout for players. The scouting has been really good and it is becoming better and better. It is difficult to cover the whole country but since the system is in place, we are trying to reach as many places as possible.”

Elaborating on the scouting process, the U-16 coach said, “We target the Subroto Cup and other national tournaments. At the zonal level, we have identified the age-group tournaments. Whenever I am free, I attend the national youth competitions. We also have coaches on call who send us information about talented players from any corner in India. We exchange details, see videos and then select.”

The former Sporting Clube de Goa coach also mentioned that there has been a huge improvement in the standard of coaching in the country and praised Savio Medeira who is currently AIFF’s head of coaching education.

He said, “Another point is the change in coaching education. It has brought changes in the coaches. Whether they are state level or school level coaches. Savio is doing a great job. When we do scouting properly we get very good players. It is improving constantly.”