By IANS
New Delhi : Sports Marketing Group ABA, which has a tie-up with Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF), now wants to help Indian football to raise its international standard.
The Group has a five-year deal with BFF and currently helping the country in talent hunt and bringing international clubs to play in the country,” said London-based Khalid Mahamood, Chairman of the Group, had preliminary discussions with the All India Football Federation officials Friday.
“If India wants to raise their football standards, they will have to play top international teams regularly. We can bring B and C teams of European clubs and organise tournaments in India,” he said.
“We brought England’s Oldham Athletic Football Club to Bangladesh last year. We have also selected three youngsters from Dhaka’s Md. Sporting for free training in England and they will get a chance to play in the C-team of the Oldham, he said.
He said the company could arrange some of world’s top football clubs like Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, Sheffield United and Wigan Athletic to send their B and C teams to play against the national side.
“They are willing to come here to help Indian football. India is a huge market and the game is growing at a fast rate. If the international teams come, it will be good advertisement for the game in the country.”
“We are trying to communicate to AIFF about our long-term plans. We will select youngsters and send them for training overseas at our own cost. Indian coaches can get international standard training from FA and FIFA-recognised coaches. We can take teams from India to Europe and vice-versa,” he said.