Western India Football Association

The Western India Football Association (WIFA)[2] is the state governing body for football in the Indian state of Maharashtra.[3][4][5] It is affiliated with the All India Football Federation, the sports national governing body. It sends state teams for Santosh Trophy and Senior Women's National Football Championship.

Western India Football Association
AbbreviationWIFA[1]
Formation1902 (1902)
(as Bombay Football Association)
HeadquartersMumbai
Region served
Maharashtra, India
Membership
36 district associations
President
Praful Patel
Secretary
Souter Vaz
Parent organization
All India Football Federation (AIFF)
Websitewifa.in

History

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]

Maharashtra football pyramid

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
(Harwood League)
26 clubs

NDFA Elite Division League
(Nagpur)
10 clubs

Kolhapur Senior League
16 Clubs

Pune Football League
(Pune Super Division)
16 clubs

Aurangabad Football League
To Be Announced

Thane Super Division
11 clubs

Nashik Football League
To be Announced

Palghar Football League
To be Announced

District League

MFA Super Division
32 clubs

Pune First Division
18 clubs

3

Mumbai Division One
Mumbai Division Two
Mumbai Division Three
Pune Division Two
Pune Division Three
NDFA Super Division League
NDFA Senior Division League

District associations
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

References
  1. Neil Morrison. "India - List of Nadkarni Cup Finals". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  2. Chittu Shetty (11 August 2019). "Why this would be the right time to bring back 'Rovers Cup'". footballcounter.com. Football Counter. Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  3. History: The Harwood League Archived 23 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine. wifa.in. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  4. Kapadia, Novy (27 May 2012). "Memorable moments in the Santosh Trophy". www.sportskeeda.com. Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  5. India - List of Mumbai (Bombay) League Champions Archived 27 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine. RSSSF. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  6. Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (29 November 2020). Scoring off the Field: Football Culture in Bengal, 1911–80. ISBN 9781000084054. Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  7. Nirwane, Sarwadnya (18 January 2022). "Rovers Cup — the second oldest Football tournament in India". thesportslite.com. Mumbai: The Sports Lite. Archived from the original on 14 October 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  8. Mumbai FC returns to Cooperage Football Stadium Archived 27 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine the-aiff.com. Retrieved 13 September 2021
  9. "About – WIFA- The Western India Football Association". wifa.in. Archived from the original on 24 April 2012.
  10. Pathak, Manasi (23 May 2018). "All you need to know about the football league structure in Maharashtra". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 1 June 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
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