Sepp Blatter said he is committed to visiting India around October. "I have made four visits to India but none as FIFA president. I promise I will be there this fall," he told HT here on Saturday. Elaborating on the FIFA boss's plans, Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Mohammad bin Hammam said: "He (Blatter) is committed to visiting India and I have had to defer my plans to coordinate with his. I think we both will be in India during the AFC Youth Championships."
The Asian Youth Championship will be co-hosted by Kolkata and Bangalore from October 29 to November 12. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is waiting for Blatter to inaugurate its headquarters in Dwarka and Hammam said "Blatter and I will visit India for the AFC Youth finals." "FIFA will definitely help you, I was spoken to you by your speaker (Somnath Chatterjee who was here) who told us to do something. FIFA will, in collaboration with the AFC," Blatter said. Beyond saying we have certain projects "which will make you proud" Hammam didn't say much about the Vision India Project.
Speaking on the sidelines of a programme where FIFA and McDonalds extended their partnership to 2014 — Hammam, Africa chief Isa Hayatou and Argentina football association president Julio Grondona and Danny Jordaan, head of South Africa's World Cup committee, were the witnesses on behalf of FIFA — AFC general-secretary Peter Velappan said he was happy with the way Vision India Pilot Project in Manipur was developing.