Dutch company to provide technical team to AIFF

Tapping the craze for football in India seems to be the latest trend among western countries and Dutch sports management company Orange Sports Forum (OSF) will be providing the All India Football Federation (AIFF) with a technical team which will supervise the talent in the country at the grassroots level.

The much touted technical director - who was not only going to personally supervise the grassroots development of the game, but also bridge the gap in communication between the senior team coach and the junior teams - will now be replaced by a team of directors who will calculate the progress and prepare reports for the federation to assess.

Although the federation has refused to go on record with the development, saying that only initial talks have been held so far, an AIFF official confirmed that they are impressed with the plan of the Holland- based group and that the deal is on.

"The deal is set to be signed. Although the company arrive in India at the end of the month for a presentation for the federation, it will be more of an effort from their side to understand the football culture in the country and the infrastructural conditions," the official told MAIL TODAY.

"They will be travelling across the country and get accustomed to the Indian culture. Although the basic principles of the programme will be same as that of the Dutch style of play - something which is famous all over the world - it will be customised to suit India's needs," he noted.

"It is a win-win situation for Indian football. Not only does OSF pump in money for the technical team to operate in India, but if all goes well, legends like Guus Hiddink could be coming over to chalk out grassroots development plan for the country. Honestly, we don't have the financial feasibility to approach someone like Hiddink."

According to the official, it is the keenness shown by European corporate, who operate in India, which really set the ball rolling for the plan to see the light of the day.

"OSF has received a lot of offers from European companies who are eager to invest in the Indian market.

They are really eager to tap the market in the country. They feel that India is one country whose potential in the world market is untouched.

"They feel being associated with the federation would help them in their endeavour to tap the Indian market. It is no surprise that the game has a huge following in the country, despite the national team not doing that well," he said.