Kolkata, Jun 14: After allegations, counter-attacks, scandals, confirmations, elections and all, Sepp Blatter, the recently re-elected President of FIFA is now back in to the developmental aspect of football.

Blatter, who won a controversial FIFA Presidential poll on Jun 1, has said that the September 2, international friendly between Argentina and Venezuela was an indication that football's popularity was on an upward trend in India.

In a message to Kolkata-based Celebrity Management Group, Blatter said, "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."

He added, "I have no doubt that the match will go a long way towards boosting football's popularity in India even further," before thanking the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for the efforts to materialise the event.

As part of FIFA's development programme, Argentina will take on Venezuela at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan, in Kolkata.

Stressing that the vision of spreading the popularity of football, is now materialising, Blatter said, "The Goal Programme was launched with the aim of improving football infrastructure worldwide on a large scale. Since then, more than 500 projects have been launched to the value of $262 million."

He added, "We have now entered a new era of football development, which combines infrastructure and projects, financial resources, technical knowledge and expertise...and can offer our 208 members comprehensive support of both a general and specific nature, covering the needs of a modern football association."

OneIndia News