Roma Khanna stepped down as tournament director of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup and AFC Women’s Asia Cup to be held in India on Saturday citing personal reasons.
Roma led the bidding process for the Under-17 World Cup in 2019 and was later appointed the tournament director of the local organizing committee. She also led a successful bidding process for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in January next year.
“I would like to thank the AIFF (All India Football Association) and FIFA (International Football Association) for showing confidence in me,” Roma said in a statement released on Saturday.
She said, “It was an honor to lead the tournament in India. I am proud of the work done by the local organizing committee and I am thankful to the team, which has a similar approach towards enhancing women’s football in India. “
“2022 will be a big year for football and women’s sports in India and I am desperate to cheer the Indian women’s teams,” she added.
Leading the LOC for FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup India 2022 and AFC Women's Asian Cup India 2022 has been a privilege and an honour. However, due to personal reasons, I have decided to step down from the role. I am grateful to AIFF and FIFA for placing their trust in me. pic.twitter.com/Se6yAwTlXZ
— Roma Khanna (@RomaKhanna7) April 10, 2021
AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das said that Roma has contributed a lot to the progress of Indian football.
He said, “Roma has been associated with AIFF for almost 10 years now and has done a lot of work towards the progress of football in the country.”
India was supposed to host the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup in 2020 from November 2 to 21 but it was canceled due to the Kovid-19 pandemic, prompting FIFA to hand over the responsibility of hosting the next phase in 2022.
In association with FIFA, AIFF will appoint a new tournament director.
Also Read: Indian Women Football Team Set To Face Belarus Challenge
