By IANS
New Delhi : Indian football received a major boost Friday with Bharti Enterprises announcing that it would spend Rs.1 billion to improve the sport at the grassroots level. The plan included opening a world-class academy.
“Football is the world’s most popular sport. Our aim will be to develop a rich football and sporting culture in India,” said Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman and CEO of Bharti Enterprises, after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) here Friday.
According to the MOU, Bharti will help the AIFF build an ultra-modern academy and also sponsor the under-16 team, which has qualified for the final of the Asian Cup.
The AIFF has identified two locations, one in Gurgaon and the other in Margao, as possible locations for the academy. But AIFF insiders say that Margao is almost certain to have the academy.
“The academy that we are planning will be on the lines of those in Europe and Latin America. By March 31, we will be able to start the work of our academy after finalising the location. The budding players will be the supply line for our national team,” said AIFF president Priya Ranjan Damunsi.
The academy will be named Bharti-AIFF Academy and will have courses for four age groups from the age of 11-18 years, with 25 players in each. It will be a residential programme with proper education system and Bharti Foundation will set the curriculum.
“The players will be selected from an extensive talent search programme held in various cities. Those selected on completion of the course at the academy would be sent to Manchester United for fine tuning their skills,” added Mittal.
AIFF president Dasmunsi said that talks are on to bring expert coaches from England and other European countries to impart training at the academy. Both parties will run the management of the academy jointly.