If AIFF has its way, it would approach global steel magnate LN Mittal to put some of his wealth and influence for the benefit of Indian football.
NEW DELHI: If AIFF has its way, it would approach global steel magnate LN Mittal to put some of his wealth and influence for the benefit of Indian football.
Mittal recently made a splash in world football by becoming the co-owner of English club Queen's Park Rangers along with Formula One bigwigs Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore.
"Several corporates are coming forward to assist us in the development of Indian football. I hope Mr Mittal does something similar," AIFF president Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi said after the Federation's General Body Meeting on Sunday.
He noted that English giants Arsenal and Chelsea had come with an intention to improve the standard of football in India.
"Chelsea wants to be part of the 'Vision Asia' programme and assist through the partnership between the Asian Football Confederation and its European counterpart UEFA," Dasmunsi said.
Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon was in India recently and held discussions with AIFF officials.
The Federation chief said corporate sponsorship had a big role to play in the Indian U-16 team qualifying for the Asian championship recently.
"Reliance had funded an overseas exposure trip before the qualifiers which helped our boys immensely," Dasmunsi said, adding there was a possibility of the team going on a preparatory tour to the United States before the AFC U-16 championship in September.
He said there was a dire need for clubs to own grounds as the big three Kolkata clubs - East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting - practice on ground owned by the Army was a major problem.
"The Goa government has taken a big step in this regard giving the top four clubs from the state land on lease to set up their own infrastructure," Dasmunsi said.
Grounds need to satisfy certain set guidelines of FIFA and AFC for them to be eligible for major international games, he added.
"As far as Delhi is concerned, the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium will be unavailable in view of renovations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the Ambedkar Stadium also needs renovation."
The Federation did not have enough funds to set up its own stadia and corporates needed to step into the breach, Dasmunsi said.
Among other decisions at the AIFF general body meeting, a new women's tournament called the Rani Jhansi Cup will be contested on zonal basis.
Another women's tournament, called the Metro Cup, will be contested by teams from the four metropolitan cities with a possibility of Bangalore and Cuttack being added in the near future.
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