A blind football athlete from one of India's most remote northeastern states is heading to the 2026 Asian Para Games — and Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu wants the country to take notice. Marbom Boje, nurtured under the state government's flagship Chief Minister's Athlete Coaching and Empowerment Scheme (CM ACES), has earned selection to the Indian national para team, marking a landmark moment for the scheme and for the state.

Who is Marbom Boje — and why this selection matters

Marbom Boje is a blind football athlete from Arunachal Pradesh whose journey to the national para squad runs directly through CM ACES — the state government's dedicated programme for coaching and empowering competitive athletes. His selection is not just a personal triumph; it is the scheme's most visible international validation to date. For a state that has historically sat at the margins of India's sporting map, producing an Asian Para Games representative in a specialised discipline like blind football is a significant marker.

What CM ACES is, and the gap it was built to fill

Launched by the Arunachal Pradesh government under Chief Minister Pema Khandu, CM ACES provides structured coaching, logistical support, and competitive exposure to athletes across disciplines — including para sports that rarely find institutional backing at the state level. The scheme slots into a broader national architecture: the Khelo India programme, launched in 2017, created the federal scaffolding to identify grassroots talent, but dedicated state-level execution has been uneven. CM ACES is Arunachal Pradesh's answer to that gap.

Northeast Indian states have increasingly positioned targeted athlete support as both a development tool and a soft-power statement — proof that the region can compete, and win, on national and international stages. Boje's selection fits squarely into that pattern.

The road to the 2026 Asian Para Games

The 2026 Asian Para Games is a continental multi-sport para athletics event that draws the region's top adaptive athletes. Blind football — played by athletes with visual impairments using an audible ball — is among its most demanding disciplines, requiring exceptional spatial awareness, trust, and training consistency. India's presence in para football at this level signals growing depth in the national para sports pipeline. Marbom Boje now carries both his state's flag and his scheme's credibility onto that stage.

Chief Minister Khandu's congratulatory post closed with a direct call to 'bring glory to the nation' — a reminder that for Arunachal Pradesh, this selection is as much about national pride as it is about a young athlete's hard-won achievement.