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April 2 – A new panel has been set-up by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to help develop the sport in India, it has been announced.
The Committee for Indian Professional Football will be chaired by AFC President Mohammed Bin Hammam with All Indian Football Federation (AIFF) President Praful Patel as the vice-chairman.
India, the world’s second most populous country with a population of 1.1 billion, is seen as one of the world’s great untapped markets.
The formation of the new Committee has coincided with Indian coach Bob Houghton leading calls for India to bid for the 2026 World Cup.
But one of the first priorities of the AFC Committee will be to raise the standards of India’s international team, which captain Baichung Bhutia believes is essential before the country considers bidding for the World Cup.
He said: ”Hosting the World Cup needs proper infrastructure, which is world class.
“At this stage, our clubs don’t even have a stadium of their own.
“Apart from that, the national side at least has to knock down a top Asian team consistently.
“Unless we do that, I don’t think we should bid for the World Cup.
“If we manage that in the next 10 years, then we should go ahead to bid, else not.”
But Houghton, the former Bristol City manager who guided Swedish club Malmo to the final of the European Cup in 1979, is optimistic about the future of the sport in India.
He said: ”We have done decently well in the past three years, internationally.
“The new president [Praful Patel] is open to new ideas and that always helps.
“These are exciting times for Indian football and certainly, we have it in us to do well.”
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