By IANS
New Delhi : Look who is coming forward to help Indian football! It is Brazilian legend Pele.
If All India Football Federation (AIFF) is to be believed, the great Pele has recommended a coach to help an ailing Indian soccer, but the offer has been turned down as we have Englishman Bob Houghton in charge.
"Last month Pele recommended a coach for the Indian team. But we have Bob as the coach so we can't have the recommended coach in place," said Alberto Colaco, general secretary of the AIFF here Wednesday.
The development comes at a time when even the government has lost faith in the game and the sports ministry has demoted it from their 'General' list to 'Others' category, after consistent poor performance by the national team at the international level. India is currently ranked 165th in the FIFA's rankings.
Colaco also said that a six-member national football delegation from Brazil, will be accompanying President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, next month to India and they will meet AIFF president Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, to sign a bilateral cooperation agreement to improve the standards of Indian football.
"We will have a delegation from the national clubs of Brazil, who will be accompanying their President. Hopefully we will have something positive out of it. We get lot of offers from different clubs in Brazilian programme for training programme, but they are beyond our affordability," said Colaco.
It was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who, bowing to insistent pressure from Dasmunsi, asked the Brazilian president for football coaching for Indian players during his visit there in September 2006.
During the tour both the countries signed nine agreements and MoUs, including one for the football superpowers to train Indian players and coaches.
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