The All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) bid to host the U-17 World Cup got a shot in the arm on Monday with FIFA vice-president Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein throwing his weight behind the project.
Hussein, who is in the capital to launch a grassroots initiative ‘Kick for Hope’ to be run by NGO Magic Bus in collaboration with his brainchild Asian Football Development Project, asserted that India is an important member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and hosting the tournament will give the game a fillip in the country.
The FIFA Executive Committee, of which Hussein is a member, is expected to name the host country for the 2017 FIFA Under-17 World Cup later this year.
“I support India’s bid to host the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup. India is an important country in Asia and a crucial one for growth of the game,” Hussein told reporters here on Monday.
Hussein also said that India should also be given representation in the AFC Champions league, Asia’s top-tier club competition. “India should also be given representation in the AFC Champions league,” he said.
India does not get direct berth in the AFC Champions league mainly because of lack of infrastructure in the country.
Hussein, one of the eight vice-presidents of the FIFA, also felt that Asia deserves an additional berth in the World Cup since it is the most populous continent and Asian football has improved by leaps and bounds in recent years.
At present, Asia gets four direct berths in the World Cup with a fifth country getting a chance to qualify for the showpiece event via a play-off.
“I have raised this matter in several FIFA meetings. I am optimistic and hopeful that this would granted in the future. Asian football has improved a lot and with Australia being included in the AFC, our numbers have also increased. An additional berth is not an unjustified demand,” Hussein stated.
Asian football witnessed turbulent times recently with its president Mohamed Bin Hammam’s involvement in a corruption scandal which ended with the election of a new chief Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain earlier in the month, and Hussien said it’s time to move on.
“Asian football have faced turbulent times but it’s time to move on from the past. We need to build the game in Asia now. We need active cooperation of all national federations to root out corruption in the game in Asia, including match fixing issues,” he said.
Bhutia wants more academies
Former Indian captain Bhaichung Bhutia on Monday called upon the I-league clubs to pay more attention to grassroots football and set up academies in order to produce quality players.
To emphasise his point, Bhutia pointed out the decline of football in West Bengal, once regarded as the Mecca of Indian football, and asserted that the neglect of grassroots football by the big clubs - Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohameddan Sporting - has contributed to the rot.
“Today teams like Mohun Bagan or East Bengal do not have more than two local players in their starting eleven. But in the eighties, at least nine players used to be locals. This has only happened because the clubs have neglected grassroots football,” Bhutia lamented.
“In Goa, by contrast, the number of local players in the club teams is much more because there the clubs pay attention to youth football,” he added.
“The Indian clubs must set up academies with proper facilities other Indian football will never improve.”
Bhutia said he is working on setting up an academy, most probably in Sikkim. “I am working on setting up a football academy. Nothing has been decided as yet. But since our club is based in Sikkim the preferred place for the academy is Sikkim or some other place in the Northeast.
“But it can be in another big city, it depends on the availability of land for setting up the academy,” he said.
Bhutia also spoke about the impact on some I-laegue clubs due to the Saradha chit fund scam. “I think there could be impact on the budget of Kolkata clubs but it will not affect clubs from other regions,” he said.
The former Mohun Bagan striker also said he wants the AIFF Technical Committee, which he is heading now, to play a big role in the development of the game in the country and not an entity that meets once in three years as has been the case earlier.
Bhutia said that he would do his best to ensure that the Technical Committee plays a big role in the betterment of Indian football. “During my playing days, the players even didn’t know whether there was a Technical Committee of the AIFF. We had not heard of it,” Bhutia said.