In a message to city-based Celebrity Management Group who are organising the spectacle, Blatter said the match would surely boost football’s popularity in the country.
Messi and company will clash against South American rivals Venezuela, two countries with a strong football tradition, at the Yuva Bharati Kridangan as part of FIFA’s development programme.
“It’s clear that FIFA’s development work in this huge country is starting to bear fruit... Football is starting to occupy an increasingly important place in Indian society,” Blatter wrote in a message to the sports management firm.
“I have no doubt that the match will go a long way towards boosting football’s popularity in India even further,” he said, thanking the AIFF for making the event possible.
He further said that their vision of a programme launched 10 years ago had started paying dividends. “Since the launch of The Goal Programme, more than 500 projects have been launched to the value of $262 million.”
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