Al-Shamali discusses ways to enhance sports cooperation with India

Our Ambassador to India, Meshal Mustafa Al-Shammari, held talks with Kalyan Chaubey, President of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), on ways to enhance bilateral cooperation in football and sports in general.

The meeting took place at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, India. Both sides emphasized the importance of activating the executive program for sports cooperation for the period 2025–2028, which was signed between Kuwait and India during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s historic visit to Kuwait in December 2024. This program includes the exchange of expertise, visits, and participation in sports programs and projects, as well as cooperation in sports medicine, sports science management, and the promotion of sports culture.

The two sides also discussed the possibilities of organizing friendly matches between national teams across various age groups for men’s and women’s teams and sports clubs, exchanging coaches and referees, facilitating player professional careers, developing youth programs and academies, organizing joint training camps, and leveraging mutual expertise to develop football at both the grassroots and professional levels.

Ambassador Al-Shammari praised the historical and strong ties between the two friendly countries, which have reached the level of a strategic partnership, stressing the role of sports as a bridge that strengthens popular and cultural links between the two peoples, particularly given the presence of a large Indian community in Kuwait that contributes to enhancing these ties.

For his part, the President of the All India Football Federation expressed his welcome for cooperation with the Kuwaiti side, affirming the federation’s readiness to explore practical mechanisms for implementing joint initiatives to serve the development of the game in both countries.

This meeting comes within the framework of ongoing efforts to enhance sports cooperation between Kuwait and the Republic of India, in line with both countries’ vision of developing youth and sports as tools for public diplomacy and mutual understanding.