VirgilBugnion41 at 19:27, 29 October 2025

2025-10-29T19:27:09Z

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{{Short description|Governing body of association football in West Bengal, India}}
{{Distinguish|text = [[All India Football Federation|All India Football Federation (AIFF)]], the national governing body of [[Football in India|Indian football]]}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox sport governing body
|name = Indian Football Association (West Bengal)
|abbrev = IFA
|logo = IFA (WB) logo.svg
|sport = [[Association football|Football]]
|jurisdiction = [[West Bengal]]
|founded = {{start date and age|1893}}<ref>{{cite web |first=Arjun |last=Wadwha |url=http://www.thesportscampus.com/200805197/introduction-to-football/history-indian-football |title=History of Football in India |website=thesportscampus.com |publisher=TheSportsCampus |date=19 May 2008 |access-date=15 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825015957/http://www.thesportscampus.com/200805197/introduction-to-football/history-indian-football |archive-date=2012-08-25 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|aff = [[All India Football Federation]] (AIFF)
|headquarters = [[Kolkata]]
|membership = 23 district associations
|president = Ajit Banerjee
|secretary = Anirban Dutta
|url = https://ifawb.in/
}}

The '''Indian Football Association''', abbreviated as '''IFA''', is the organisation that administers [[association football|football]] in the [[India]]n state of [[West Bengal]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thefangarage.com/articles/19091-calcutta-football-league-cfl-goes-bigger-than-ever-for-its-historic-125th-season|title=Calcutta Football League (CFL) goes bigger than ever for its historic 125th season|website=thefangarage.com|publisher=The Fan Garage|location=Kolkata|date=5 June 2023|access-date=6 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606060715/https://thefangarage.com/articles/19091-calcutta-football-league-cfl-goes-bigger-than-ever-for-its-historic-125th-season|archive-date=6 June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://ifawb.org/footballs-passage/|title=The passage of football in India|website=ifawb.org|publisher=[[Indian Football Association]]|location=Kolkata|access-date=11 September 2022|archive-date=29 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129163914/https://ifawb.org/footballs-passage/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gupta |first=Sabyasachi |date=2024-08-29 |title=কলকাতা ফুটবলে রেফারিংয়ে প্রযুক্তির নয়া দিগন্ত, আইএফএ ও যাদবপুর বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের যুগ্ম প্রয়াস |url=https://bongfootball.in/ifa-introduces-new-technology-in-refereeing/ |access-date=2024-09-06 |website=Bong Football |language=en-US}}</ref> It is the oldest football association in India and was founded in 1893.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chaseyoursport.com/Football/The-Golden-Years-of-Indian-Football/659|title=The Golden Years of Indian Football|website=www.chaseyoursport.com|publisher=Chase Your Sport|location=Kolkata|first=Rounak|last=Majumdar|date=22 April 2019|access-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107230046/https://www.chaseyoursport.com/Football/The-Golden-Years-of-Indian-Football/659|archive-date=7 November 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://wbsportsandyouth.gov.in/chronology|title=Chronology of Important Sports Events — West Bengal|website=wbsportsandyouth.gov.in|publisher=Government of West Bengal – Department of youth services and sports|date=2017|access-date=25 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013092944/https://wbsportsandyouth.gov.in/chronology|archive-date=13 October 2022|location=Kolkata}}</ref> Among the founders was former [[England national football team|English]] international [[Elphinstone Jackson]].<ref>[http://www.iffhs.de/?3f4b05ffcd85bcca952b9b95205fdcdc3bfcdc0aec70aeeda30b IFFHS - Interesting and curious facts about full internationals and national players (1872–1900)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207184618/http://www.iffhs.de/?3f4b05ffcd85bcca952b9b95205fdcdc3bfcdc0aec70aeeda30b |date=2012-02-07 }}. ''iffhs.de''. Retrieved 28 October 2021.</ref>

The IFA organises tournaments such as the [[Calcutta Football League]], the [[Kanyashree Cup|Calcutta Women's Football League]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-26 |title=Indian women football team will play against two top tier-1 Swedish teams |url=https://bet365india.app/news/indian-women-football-team-will-play-against-two-top-tier-1-swedish-teams/ |access-date=2022-04-28 |website=Bet365India |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-05-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220522052723/https://bet365india.app/news/indian-women-football-team-will-play-against-two-top-tier-1-swedish-teams/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[IFA Shield]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=History in Timeline of Indian Football|url=https://www.the-aiff.com/history|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200308124507/http://www.the-aiff.com/history|archive-date=8 March 2020|access-date=2021-02-15|website=the-aiff.com|publisher=[[All India Football Federation]]}}</ref> In 2021, the IFA also took an initiative to start its own [[futsal]] league.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2021-01-28|title=First ever Futsal league in Bengal to kick off on 'Poila Baishakh'|url=https://thebridge.in/football/first-ever-futsal-league-in-bengal-to-kick-off-on-poila-baishakh/|access-date=2021-02-26|website=The Bridge|language=en-GB|archive-date=2021-01-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128164525/https://thebridge.in/football/first-ever-futsal-league-in-bengal-to-kick-off-on-poila-baishakh/|url-status=live}}</ref>
It also sends state teams for [[Santosh Trophy]] and [[Rajmata Jijabai Trophy]].

==History==
Contrary to the name, the association does not administer the game in India, a task that falls to the [[All India Football Federation]] (AIFF), instead governs the game in the state of [[West Bengal]]. However, before the formation of the AIFF, the IFA was in ''[[de facto]]'' control of football in India by virtue of its administration by [[English people|Englishmen]] as well as its affiliation to [[the Football Association]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://home.123india.com/alokghosh/Heritage/Our%20Sportsmen.htm|title=OUR SPORTSMEN: Gostha Pal|website=123india.com|access-date=27 September 2007|archive-date=27 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927210527/http://home.123india.com/alokghosh/Heritage/Our%20Sportsmen.htm}}</ref> Hence, all foreign tours were conducted by the IFA and also foreign teams negotiated with the IFA for visits to India. In its formative years, the only Indian representative in the English dominated executive committee was Kalicharan Mitra from the Sovabazar Club.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lifestyle.livemint.com/news/talking-point/how-football-kicked-off-in-india-111645287939737.html|title=How football kicked off in India {{!}} As with the English language, when the British transported the sport to India, they didn't expect the 'natives' to beat them at it|website=lifestyle.livemint.com|publisher=[[Mint (newspaper)|Livemint Delhi]]|date=8 June 2018|access-date=27 January 2022|first=Manu S|last=Pillai|location=Delhi, India|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714153151/https://lifestyle.livemint.com/news/talking-point/how-football-kicked-off-in-india-111645287939737.html|archive-date=14 July 2022}}</ref> By vigorously promoting the game in [[Bengal]], the IFA became undivided India's premier football body in the early decades of the 20th century.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2017-03-25|title=The Birth of the All India Football Federation {{!}} Novy Kapadia|url=https://www.saddahaq.com/the-birth-of-the-all-india-football-federation|access-date=2021-02-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170325112623/https://www.saddahaq.com/the-birth-of-the-all-india-football-federation|archive-date=2017-03-25}}</ref>

Through the efforts of [[Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari]] (the ''father of Indian football''), A.R. Brown and B.C. Lindsay of [[Dalhousie AC]], and Watson of [[Calcutta Cricket and Football Club|Calcutta FC]], the IFA was established in 1893.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thebridge.in/featured/nagendra-prasad-the-father-indian-football-removed-prejudice-indian-sports/|title=Nagendra Prasad — The father of Indian football who removed prejudice from the sport|website=thebridge.in|publisher=The Bridge|date=25 January 2020|access-date=24 October 2022|first=Sarah|last=Waris|location=Kolkata|archive-date=24 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024082132/https://thebridge.in/amp/featured/nagendra-prasad-the-father-indian-football-removed-prejudice-indian-sports/}}</ref> A.R. Brown was the first Secretary of the IFA. [[Norman Pritchard|Norman Prichard]], the first Indian to win an [[Olympic medal]], was the Secretary of the IFA in 1900.The most remarkable person to head the IFA was the [[Maharaja]] of [[Santosh, Bangladesh|Santosh]], [[Sir]] M.N. Roy Chowdhury. During his tenure the IFA played an instrumental role in the formation of the AIFF.<ref>{{Cite web|title=About Us|url=https://ifawb.org/about-us/|access-date=2021-02-26|website=IFAWB|language=en-US|archive-date=2023-01-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124122335/https://ifawb.org/about-us/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The IFA had organised many historical tournaments like the [[Trades Cup]], the Gladstone Cup, the [[Cooch Behar Cup]] and the coveted [[IFA Shield]], prior to the incorporation of [[Calcutta Football League]] in 1898. The Trades Cup is the oldest tournament in Kolkata, being instituted in 1889.<ref>{{cite book |title=Portrait Of Indian Sport |url=https://archive.org/details/portraitofinidan00anth |publisher= P R Macmillan Limited, London |last1=D'Mello |first1=Anthony |page=186 |date=1959 |access-date=25 September 2022 }}</ref>

Clubs outside [[Bengal]] complained about the lack of neutrality in the affairs of the IFA. This disillusionment of clubs and patrons led to the formation of associations such as the [[Western India Football Association]], which preferred to be governed by themselves rather than by the IFA. After years of numerous conferences and meetings, the IFA along with other five regional football associations broke their mutual deadlock to form the AIFF in 1937.<ref name=":0" />

==State teams==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}

===Men===
* [[West Bengal football team]]
* [[West Bengal under-20 football team]]
* [[West Bengal under-15 football team]]
* [[West Bengal under-13 football team]]
{{col-2}}

===Women===
* [[West Bengal women's football team]]
* [[West Bengal women's under-19 football team]]
* [[West Bengal women's under-17 football team]]
{{col-end}}

==Affiliated district associations==
The 23 district associations affiliated with the '''Indian Football Association'''.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! No. !! Association !! District/Region
|-
| 1 || Alipurduar District Sports Association || [[Alipurduar district|Alipurduar]]
|-
| 2 || Bankura District Sports Association || [[Bankura district|Bankura]]
|-
| 3 || Burdwan District Sports Association || [[Paschim Bardhaman district|Paschim Bardhaman]] and [[Purba Bardhaman district|Purba Bardhaman]]
|-
| 4 || Birbhum District Sports Association || [[Birbhum district|Birbhum]]
|-
| 5 || Chandernagore Sporting Association || [[Chandannagar]] ([[Hooghly district|Hooghly]])
|-
| 6 || Cooch Behar District Sports Association || [[Cooch Behar district|Cooch Behar]]
|-
| 7 || Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Sports Association || [[Darjeeling]] ([[Darjeeling district|Darjeeling]])
|-
| 8 || Dakshin Dinajpur District Sports Association || [[Dakshin Dinajpur district|Dakshin Dinajpur]]
|-
| 9 || Hooghly District Sports Association || [[Hooghly district|Hooghly]]
|-
| 10 || Howrah District Sports Association || [[Howrah district|Howrah]]
|-
| 11 || Jalpaiguri District Sports Association || [[Jalpaiguri district|Jalpaiguri]]
|-
| 12 || Jhargram District Sports Association || [[Jhargram district|Jhargram]]
|-
| 13 || Kalimpong District Sports Association || [[Kalimpong district|Kalimpong]]
|-
| 14 || Malda District Sports Association || [[Malda district|Malda]]
|-
| 15 || Manbhum Sports Association || [[Purulia district|Purulia]]
|-
| 16 || Murshidabad District Sports Association || [[Murshidabad district|Murshidabad]]
|-
| 17 || Nadia District Sports Association || [[Nadia district|Nadia]]
|-
| 18 || North 24 Parganas District Sports Association || [[North 24 Parganas district|North 24 Parganas]]
|-
| 19 || Paschim Medinipur District Sports Association || [[Paschim Medinipur district|Paschim Medinipur]]
|-
| 20 || Purba Medinipur District Sports Association || [[Purba Medinipur district|Purba Medinipur]]
|-
| 21 || Siliguri Mahakuma Krira Parishad || [[Siliguri]] ([[Darjeeling district|Darjeeling]])
|-
| 22 || South 24 Parganas District Sports Association || [[South 24 Parganas]]
|-
| 23 || Uttar Dinajpur District Sports Association || [[Uttar Dinajpur district|Uttar Dinajpur]]
|}

==Competitions==
===Men's===
* [[Calcutta Football League]]
* [[Bengal Super League]] ([[North American professional sports league organization|franchise]])
* [[IFA Shield]]
* [[Uttarbanga Cup]]
* Jayanta Chatterjee Inter District Football Tournament
* IFA Futsal Championship

===Women's===
* [[Kanyashree Cup|Calcutta Women's Football League]]
* [[Women's IFA Shield]]

===Youth===
* [[Calcutta Football League|CFL]] 5th Division Group B
* IFA Nursery League

==West Bengal Football League pyramid==
===Men's===
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!colspan="2" |Calcutta Football League
|-
!Tier
!Division
|-
!1 (Level 5 on Indian Football [[Indian football league system|pyramid]])
|CFL Premier Division
''↑promote ([[I-League 3]]) ↓relegate 4''
|-
!2 (Level 6 on Indian Football [[Indian football league system|pyramid]])
|CFL 1st Division
''↑promote 2 ↓relegate 2''
|-
!3 (Level 7 on Indian Football [[Indian football league system|pyramid]])
|CFL 2nd Division
''↑promote 2 ↓relegate 2''
|-
!4 (Level 8 on Indian Football [[Indian football league system|pyramid]])
|CFL 3rd Division
''↑promote 2 ↓relegate 2''
|-
!5 (Level 9 on Indian Football [[Indian football league system|pyramid]])
|CFL 4th Division
''↑promote 2 ↓relegate 2''
|-
!6 (Level 10 on Indian Football [[Indian football league system|pyramid]])
|CFL 5th Division Group A
''↑promote 2 ↓relegate 2''
|-
!7 (Level 11 on Indian Football [[Indian football league system|pyramid]])
|CFL 5th Division Group B
''↑promote 2''
|}

===Women's===
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! colspan="2" |Calcutta Women's Football League
|-
!Tier
!Division
|-
!I (Level 3 on Indian Women's Football [[Indian football league system|pyramid]])
|CWFL Premier Division A ''↑promote ({{nowrap|to [[Indian Women's League 2]]}}) ↓relegate''
|-
!II (Level 4 on Indian Women's Football [[Indian football league system|pyramid]])
|CWFL Premier Division B ''↑promote''
|}

==Evolution==
<onlyinclude>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; font-size: 11px ;"
! colspan="2" |Years
! rowspan="2" |1889–1893
! rowspan="2" |1893
! rowspan="2" |1893–1993
! rowspan="2" |1993–2019
! rowspan="2" |2019–2021
! rowspan="2" |2021–2023
! rowspan="2" |2023–present
|-
! colspan="2" |'''Level'''
|-
| colspan="9" bgcolor="#4f0d0e"|{{ font color | white |'''Men's'''}}
|-
! rowspan="7" |State leagues
| bgcolor="gold" |'''1'''
| rowspan="7" |''None''
| rowspan="7" bgcolor="#A1E6FF" | Formation of [[Indian Football Association|Indian Football Association (IFA)]]
| colspan="5" bgcolor="gold" |[[Calcutta Football League|CFL Premier Division]]
|-
| bgcolor="silver" |'''2'''
| colspan="2" |''None''
| colspan="3" bgcolor="silver" |CFL 1st Division
|-
| bgcolor="#cc9966" |'''3'''
| colspan="4" rowspan="5" |''None''
| bgcolor="#cc9966" |CFL 2nd Division
|-
| bgcolor="#dc7f80" |'''4'''
| bgcolor="#dc7f80" |CFL 3rd Division
|-
| bgcolor="#f7da4e" |'''5'''
| bgcolor="#f7da4e" |CFL 4th Division
|-
| bgcolor="#399157" |'''6'''
| bgcolor="#399157" |CFL 5th Division Group A
|-
| bgcolor="#9fc440" |'''7'''
| bgcolor="#9fc440" |CFL 5th Division Group B
|-
! colspan="9" |
|-
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |Cup competitions
| colspan="4" bgcolor="#DEFF97" |[[Trades Cup]]
| colspan="3" |''Discontinued''
|-
|
| bgcolor="#A1E6FF" |
| colspan="3" bgcolor="#DEFF97" |[[IFA Shield]]
| colspan="2" |''Not continued''
|-
| colspan="9" bgcolor="#e19650"|{{ font color | white |'''Women's'''}}
|-
! rowspan="2" |State leagues
| bgcolor="gold" |'''1'''
| rowspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" bgcolor="#A1E6FF" |
|''None''
| colspan="4" bgcolor="gold" |[[Kanyashree Cup|Kanyashree Cup Premier Division A]]
|-
| bgcolor="silver" |'''2'''
| colspan="4" |''None''
| bgcolor="gold" |Kanyashree Cup Premier Division B
|-
! colspan="9" |
|-
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |Cup competitions
|
| bgcolor="#A1E6FF" |
| colspan="4" |''None''
| bgcolor="#DEFF97" |[[Women's IFA Shield]]
|}
</onlyinclude>

==Management==
{{As of|2022}}
{| class="wikitable"
!Office
!Name
|-
|President
|Ajit Banerjee
|-
|Chairman
|Subrata Dutta
|-
| rowspan="3" |Vice-president(s)
|Sudeshna Mukherjee
|-
|Saurav Pal
|-
|Swarup Biswas
|-
|Secretary
|Anirban Dutta
|-
| rowspan="3" |Assistant Secretary(s)
|Rakesh Kumar Jha
|-
|MD Jamal
|-
|Biswajit Bhaduri
|-
|Treasurer
|Debasish Sarkar
|}

==See also==
* [[List of Indian state football associations]]
* [[Football in Kolkata]]
* [[Football in West Bengal]]
* [[Football in India]]
* [[Premier League Soccer (India)|Premier League Soccer]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |last1=Mitra | first=Soumen |date=1 January 2006 |title=In Search of an Identity: The History of Football in Colonial Calcutta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fZbgPgAACAAJ |publisher=Dasgupta & Co. Private Ltd. |location=Kolkata |isbn=978-8182110229 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221021163751/https://books.google.co.in/books/about/In_Search_of_an_Identity.html?id=fZbgPgAACAAJ&redir_esc=y |archive-date=21 October 2022 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Kapadia |first1=Novy |year=2017|title=Barefoot to Boots: The Many Lives of Indian Football |publisher=Penguin Random House |isbn=978-0-143-42641-7 }}
*{{cite book |last=Majumdar, Boria |first=Bandyopadhyay, Kausik |year=2006 |title=Goalless: The Story of a Unique Footballing Nation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i55oAAAACAAJ |publisher=[[Penguin Books|Penguin India]] |isbn=9780670058747 }}
*Dutta, P. L., ''Memoir of 'Father of Indian Football' Nagendraprasad Sarbadhikary'' (Calcutta: N. P. Sarbadhikary Memorial Committee, 1944) (hereafter Memoir)
*Ghosh, Saurindra Kumar. ''Krira Samrat Nagendraprasad Sarbadhikary 1869–1940'' (Calcutta: N. P. Sarbadhikary Memorial Committee, 1963) (hereafter Krira Samrat).
*Roselli, John. ''Self Image of Effeteness: Physical Education and Nationalism in Nineteenth Century Bengal''. [[Past & Present (journal)]]. 86 (February 1980). p. 121–48.
*Sinha, Mrinalini. ''Colonial Masculinity, The Manly Englishman and the Effeminate Bengali in the Late Nineteenth Century'' ([[Manchester]]: [[Manchester University Press]], 1995).
*Chatterjee, Partha. ''The Nation and Its Fragments: Colonial and Post-colonial Histories'' (Calcutta: [[Oxford University Press]], 1995).
*Mason, ''Football on the Maidan'', p. 144; Dimeo, ''Football and Politics in Bengal'', p. 62.
*{{cite book|last=Sen|first=Dwaipayan|year=2013|chapter=Wiping the Stain Off the Field of Plassey: Mohun Bagan in 1911|editor-last1=Bandyopadhyay|editor-first1=Kausik|editor-last2=Mallick|editor-first2=Sabyasachi|title=Fringe Nations in World Soccer|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-99810-5}}
*{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QbUFaAEACAAJ|title=History of Indian Football: Upto 2009–10|first=Nirmal|last=Nath|year=2011|publisher=Readers Service|isbn=9788187891963|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220722172604/https://books.google.co.in/books/about/History_of_Indian_Football.html?id=QbUFaAEACAAJ&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y|archive-date=22 July 2022}}
*{{cite web |url=http://pierretristam.com/pdfs/wc10.pdf |title=Triumphs and Disasters: The Story of Indian Football, 1889—2000. |access-date=20 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813081005/http://pierretristam.com/pdfs/wc10.pdf |archive-date=13 August 2012 |url-status=dead}}
*{{cite book |title=Portrait Of Indian Sport |url=https://archive.org/details/portraitofinidan00anth |publisher= P R Macmillan Limited, London |last1=D'Mello |first1=Anthony |date=1959 }}
*[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14660970500106295?journalCode=fsas20 ''From recreation to competition: Early history of Indian football''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709181632/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14660970500106295?journalCode=fsas20 |date=9 July 2021 }}. pp. 124–141. Published online: 6 Aug 2006. ''www.tandfonline.com''. Retrieved 30 June 2021.

==External links==
* {{Facebook|100072192044848}}
* {{Twitter|IFABengal}}
* {{Instagram|ifa.wb}}
* [https://www.the-aiff.com/association/494 IFA] on [[All India Football Federation|the-AIFF.com]]
*[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNa4rEtIB-3QlzA_St6fzGA IFA] on [[YouTube]]

{{IFA seasons}}
{{Football in Kolkata|stadium=[[Salt Lake Stadium]]}}
{{Football in India}}
{{Indian state football associations}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Football governing bodies in India|West Bengal]]
[[Category:Sports organizations established in 1893]]
[[Category:Football in West Bengal| ]]
[[Category:Organisations based in Kolkata]]
[[Category:1893 establishments in British India]]

Indian Football Association - Revision history

VirgilBugnion41 at 19:27, 29 October 2025