Opinion on Indian Football: Ajin Jacob Abraham (Huddersfield Town FC)

At the Soccerex European Forum last week in Manchester Indian football was well represented with over 20 people there from federations, the government, institutions, agencies and clubs. I spoke to some of these people to get their views on Indian football and will run a series across the week with these very interesting different view points.

I continue the series with the views from Ajin Jacob Abraham (Huddersfield Town FC, International Development Manager), who has done the Football MBA in Liverpool and works in English football.


Where do we stand with Indian football today?

In my personal opinion Indian football at the moment needs a lot of structure and it's not just at the top, it starts from the grassroots. There is a lot of things which come from the families, then parents nowadays take their children to football, while it is also a lot of things to do with attitude towards the game. And that is where I believe a lot of investment and lot of interest should come. That's the only way up!

In terms of what the bigger picture is for the AIFF and IMG-Reliance liaising with all the states, all regions so that it is seen as a national body for the whole country rather then sporadic events and tournament in far-flung places like Goa, Bengal or Kerala which are anyway hotbeds of football.