FPAI becomes official member of FIFPro

New Delhi: The Football Players` Association of India, the brainchild of national captain Bhaichung Bhutia,

has been granted official membership of the Federation of International Professional Football Players` Associations (FIFPro). FPAI was one of the two new members introduced at the general assembly of FIFPro in Budapest recently. Chief executive officer Sumit Mukherjee signed the certificate of membership on behalf of FPAI. "We formed the Football Players Association of India three and half years back. We have come a long way since then and have definitely contributed towards the development of the Indian football players. For the first time the players feel that they have a body that they can fall back upon when they are in trouble and in need of guidance," Mukherjee said. Mukherjee gave credit to FPAI President Bhaichung for the growth of the association. "The growth of FPAI is primarily because of Bhaichung. Today the players stand united behind each other under his leadership and have appreciated benefit of having one voice under the FPAI," he said in the official website of FPAI. "However, we still have a long way to go before we reach the size and stature we would like to achieve. We have learnt a lot from our meetings and interactions with various people from FIFPro. This has given us immense guidance with respect to getting a formal MOU signed with AIFF, which we hope to sign in the near future," he added. PTI