Page "All India Football Federation" Paragraph 4

On the 23 June 1937 at the Army Headquarters, Shimla, the capital of the hilly state of Himachal Pradesh in India, the AIFF was formed at a meeting of the representatives of football associations of six regions where the game was very popular in those days.

The six regions which attended that historic meeting were the Indian Football Association ( IFA ) ( the ruling body of the game in Bengal ), Army Sports Control Board, United Provinces, Bihar, North West India Football Association and Delhi.

Before the birth of the AIFF, there was no properly constituted national organisation.

However the IFA, the oldest association of its kind in the country, was recognised by football lovers throughout the country, as the ruling body of football in the country.

So the AIFF had in the IFA a forerunner that dates backs to 1893.

In its formative years Englishmen dominated the executive committee of the IFA.

In fact the only Indian representative was Kalicharan Mitra from the Sobhabazar Club.

Methodical organisation and sustained efforts to promote the game in Bengal, made the IFA the premier football body in the country in the early decades of the 20th century.

For all practical purposes it was the national controlling body largely because the IFA was affiliated to the Football Association of England.

Hence all foreign tours were conducted by the IFA.

Also all the foreign teams negotiated with the IFA for visits to India and matches in Calcutta and other cities in India.