There won't be any shortage of opportunities for Indian footballers, reckons I M Vijayan as yet another Indian tycoon plans to buy an overseas club
There won't be any shortage of opportunities for Indian footballers, reckons I M Vijayan as yet another Indian tycoon plans to buy an overseas club
Indian wealth is slowly spreading across football. After Pune-based Venky's Group bought an English Premier League (EPL) club Blackburn Rovers recently and a private businessman Ishan Saksena won the bid to buy Queens Park Rangers, yesterday yet another Indian tycoon Ahsan Ali Syed confirmed that he is all set to seal the deal for La Liga club Racing Santander.
Syed, founder of Bahrain-based asset manager Western Gulf Advisory, plans to wrap up the deal on Monday, his office said in a statement.
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Indian owners' increasing presence in clubs in the UK and Spain is a great chance for the country's talent to get international exposure, though not in the immediate future.
On Wednesday, Balaji Rao, Blackburn's co-owner, said he is determined to use the club's resources to unearth gifted young players from India. "They (academy coaches) will select four to five youngsters who will train at the academy in England for two years. If at least one Indian player makes it to the EPL, my dream is done," he was quoted as saying.
Lack of opportunities was always a dearth. But hopefully that should no longer be a reason for Indian footballers not making it to the big league, reckons former India star I M Vijayan. "It would have been a dream come true for me to get a chance to play in the EPL. But during our times, we never had these kind of opportunities. I hope we will not complain about lack of opportunities anymore," Vijayan, who has set a football academy in his home state Kerala, told MiD DAY.
Make the most
A three-time Indian Player of the Year, Vijayan (41), who spent his entire career in India even though he attracted interest from clubs in Malaysia and Thailand, expects youngsters to make the most of the "big opening".
"Our youngsters should show more promise on the field and big opportunities will surely come their way. This is great news for youngsters like Sunil Chhetri and others. We also have a more professional set up of the sport in the country as compared to our time.
"Indian standards too have largely improved. India may have lost all their matches in the recent Asian Cup, but we gave a tough fight. We lost matches, but not with big margins. These are all positive signs for Indian football and I hope we don't miss any more opportunities," concluded Vijayan.
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