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Indian
football body seeks LN Mittal’s aid
 NEW DELHI: If the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has its way,
it would approach global steel magnate L N Mittal to put some of his
wealth and influence for the benefit of Indian football. Mittal
recently made a splash in world football by becoming the co-owner of
English club Queen’s Park Rangers along with Formula One bigwigs
Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore.
“Several corporates are coming forward to assist us in the
development of Indian football. I hope Mittal does something
similar,” AIFF president Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi said after the
Federation’s General Body Meeting on Sunday. He noted that English
giants Arsenal and Chelsea had come with an intention to improve the
standard of football in India.
“Chelsea wants to be part of the ‘Vision Asia’ programme and assist
through the partnership between the Asian Football Confederation and
its European counterpart UEFA,” Dasmunsi said. Chelsea CEO Peter
Kenyon was in India recently and held discussions with AIFF
officials.
The Federation chief said corporate sponsorship had a big role to
play in the Indian U-16 team qualifying for the Asian championship
recently. “Reliance had funded an overseas exposure trip before the
qualifiers which helped our boys immensely,” Dasmunsi said.
He said there was a dire need for clubs to own grounds as the big
three Kolkata clubs - East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan
Sporting - practice on ground owned by the Army was a major problem.
26 December 2007
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