CHENNAI: There is something good happening at the grassroots of Indian football in the last 4-5 years, especially after the entry of corporates into the game, says former Iranian footballer Jamshid Nassiri. Nassiri was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of ‘Young Heroes’, a competition to discover the best U-15 football team across schools in India, on Friday.
“Indian football has been continuously neglected and ill-maintained by its parent government organisation All India Football Federation for decades. There has been a lack of proper management and precocious talent available even in the remote villages of India has been wasted. But the situation is changing,” Nassiri said.
Sports channel Star Sports backed by backing Young Heroes, held the Chennai leg at Don Bosco Red Hills, recently. Over45 schools from across Tamil Nadu, including government schools, participated in the league-cum-knock out leg. The champion took part at the all India level, while the best talent was hand-picked by Nassiri and other coaches for an international exposure trip to Spain. The schools were selected on a first-cum-first-serve basis, stated the organisers of the event.
This is part of the plans by corporates to capture talents from schools and train them to be competent enough at an international stage, added the organisers.
“See, this is the kind of exposure that we are going to give the Indian kids. Previously, nobody saw them play but now they have the chance to get noticed by international stars,” said Nassiri, who has lived in India for the past three decades and has also played for many I-league teams.
In this weekend competition, the different matches were held for about 15 minutes and the knock out rounds were about 10 minutes each.