Novy Kapadia
It never rains, but pours. For years, Indian football lacked big money and adequate corporate sponsorship. Hence junior football teams of the country did not get enough regular competitive tournaments to hone their skills. This malaise seems to be partially rectified as corporate sponsorship is pouring in and within the next 40 days there are five important age-group football tournaments, both at home and abroad.
There is also now no dearth of sponsorship. All the Premier League clubs in Kolkata have sponsors. Even clubs in Goa, Mumbai and Delhi are managing to procure corporate sponsorship. Bharti Telecom has promised to create a Rs 100 crore academy, with world class amenities to develop talent. However, the venture has not taken off as the impasse about the promised land in Goa still continues due to ownership problems with the local population. The All India Football Federation must get proactive about providing infrastructure and tournament schedules, in order to have sustained corporate support.
India’s U-16 team will take part in the Asian Championships final rounds early next month. India have entered the final rounds of this tournament thrice before in 1996, 2002 and 2004. But for the first time, the U-16 team picked up valuable international exposure before a major competition. The team traveled and played in the US and in England against Manchester United and Everton. This is possible because of the generous sponsorship by Bharti Telecom, which financed the trip to England so that the players could get the best possible practice before taking part in the final rounds of the Asian Championships.
The Mohun Bagan U-12 team, are India’s first ever representative at the Danone Nations Cup being held in Paris. The legendary Zinedine Zidane is the ambassador of this tournament, in which 40 nations, from all the continents participate. The Danone Nations Cup sponsored by a health food giant started in 2000 but India are participating for the first time. Bagan won an all-India U-12 tournament, sponsored by Yakult Danone in Delhi to qualify for the final rounds in Paris.
The Tata Football Academy is organising an U-19 I-League at Jamshedpur from September 7 to 19. The U-19 teams of all the 12 I-League clubs along with TFA and Chandigarh Football Academy will participate in this competition. TFA has said that they will host this important tournament for the next three years. Such an initiative, the AIFF hopes, will compel the clubs to develop junior talent and not just pay lip service to this concept.
From September 25 onwards, Mohun Bagan will host an international age-group tournament at their Durgapur academy. The best eight Indian teams, along with some South-East Asian nations will participate. Bagan will make this an annual feature to provide international competition to talented teenagers in the country. The Subroto Mukherjee Cup for schools in Delhi has got a record sponsorship of over Rs 1 crore.
Source:Howara.org
It never rains, but pours. For years, Indian football lacked big money and adequate corporate sponsorship. Hence junior football teams of the country did not get enough regular competitive tournaments to hone their skills. This malaise seems to be partially rectified as corporate sponsorship is pouring in and within the next 40 days there are five important age-group football tournaments, both at home and abroad.
There is also now no dearth of sponsorship. All the Premier League clubs in Kolkata have sponsors. Even clubs in Goa, Mumbai and Delhi are managing to procure corporate sponsorship. Bharti Telecom has promised to create a Rs 100 crore academy, with world class amenities to develop talent. However, the venture has not taken off as the impasse about the promised land in Goa still continues due to ownership problems with the local population. The All India Football Federation must get proactive about providing infrastructure and tournament schedules, in order to have sustained corporate support.
India’s U-16 team will take part in the Asian Championships final rounds early next month. India have entered the final rounds of this tournament thrice before in 1996, 2002 and 2004. But for the first time, the U-16 team picked up valuable international exposure before a major competition. The team traveled and played in the US and in England against Manchester United and Everton. This is possible because of the generous sponsorship by Bharti Telecom, which financed the trip to England so that the players could get the best possible practice before taking part in the final rounds of the Asian Championships.
The Mohun Bagan U-12 team, are India’s first ever representative at the Danone Nations Cup being held in Paris. The legendary Zinedine Zidane is the ambassador of this tournament, in which 40 nations, from all the continents participate. The Danone Nations Cup sponsored by a health food giant started in 2000 but India are participating for the first time. Bagan won an all-India U-12 tournament, sponsored by Yakult Danone in Delhi to qualify for the final rounds in Paris.
The Tata Football Academy is organising an U-19 I-League at Jamshedpur from September 7 to 19. The U-19 teams of all the 12 I-League clubs along with TFA and Chandigarh Football Academy will participate in this competition. TFA has said that they will host this important tournament for the next three years. Such an initiative, the AIFF hopes, will compel the clubs to develop junior talent and not just pay lip service to this concept.
From September 25 onwards, Mohun Bagan will host an international age-group tournament at their Durgapur academy. The best eight Indian teams, along with some South-East Asian nations will participate. Bagan will make this an annual feature to provide international competition to talented teenagers in the country. The Subroto Mukherjee Cup for schools in Delhi has got a record sponsorship of over Rs 1 crore.
Source:Howara.org
