Prompted by the success of the overseas online scouting portal which helped All India Football Federation discover players for the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017, the AIFF on Tuesday (March 27, 2018) took it a step further becoming the first National Sports Federation in India to launch a mobile based scouting application to unearth future talent.

Keeping in tune with taking help from digital space, AIFF’s new mobile scouting application Scout-Me will further ease out the scouting process.

It was through their overseas online scouting portal that AIFF had earlier unearthed Namit Deshpande and Sunny Dhaliwal for the Indian U17 squad which represented India in their maiden appearance at the FIFA U17 World Cup India 2017.

AIFF President Mr. Praful Patel who unveiled the scouting app at a function in the Capital said: “It’s a pleasure for me to launch AIFF’s scouting application today. We have so much talent across every corner of the country but it’s always not physically possible to travel the distance. Hence, we intend to bridge this distance through the ever growing and highly penetrative mobile application ecosystem.”

“I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Kush, the creator of this app. I like to urge the youth of today to invest their intellect in such constructive acts that only work as a showcase for their future and also help many like them in the longer run,” he added. “I am sure that through Scout-Me, we would be slowly giving life to many aspirants and talent who dream to represent their state and country in Football.”

The AIFF Scouting Application, Scout-Me has been developed by a 17-year football enthusiast Kush Pandey who is pursuing his International Baccalaureate Diploma Program at Jayshree Periwal International School, Jaipur and has also represented Delhi at the National Championships. He also leads his school football team.

Mr. Kushal Das, General Secretary, All India Football Federation said: “It’s a great day for us as with the launch of this mobile application AIFF becomes the first National Sports Federation in India to utilize the digital mobile world in a constructive manner to unearth future talents for the sport.”

“The last few years have seen many positive developments for Indian football. Hosting the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 and the National Team breaking into the top 100 have been important milestones for Indian Football,” he added.

“Now with the launch of this mobile scouting application Indian Football has taken a leap into a world that helps talent to reach us directly rather than us going out on a lookout for them.”

Kush Pandey, the creator of the App said: “My interest in computer science along with my love for football and sustained help from my younger brother Arjun Pandey enabled me to create an application to scout prospective footballing talent. I am grateful to AIFF for giving me the platform to aid their grassroots development scouting process through the application.”