New Delhi: In an attempt to further professionalise the administrative set-up, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) is likely to create a post for the assistant general secretary soon. According to AIFF sources, the new appointee will be a paid employee, but a man of football background.

“The volume of work in the AIFF has increased so much in the last few years that it is becoming impossible for the general secretary alone to look after everything,” said an AIFF official. “Hence, we mooted the idea of appointing an assistant general secretary from the 2006-07 season, provided it is approved by the general body.”

While the name of the assistant general secretary is yet to be decided, there is a strong chance that the post might go to one of the AIFF members. He is also supposed to head the competition sections of the federation, which, too, will now be managed by a group of professional staff.

“The competition section will now be divided into two sections,” said the official. “While one section will manage the AIFF club competitions like National Football League (NFL), second division NFL and the Federation Cup, the other section will be in charge of Santosh Trophy and other age-group national championships. In that case, the present system of running the NFL through an NFL Committee (NFLC) under a chairman will be scrapped.”

While there is little doubt that the new system will help to get things into order, everything depends on the kind of people the federation appoints to carry on the responsibilities.