After U-17 World Cup, Indian colts to play I-League home games in Delhi

New Delhi: The 2017 U-17 World Cup will not be the last FIFA-sanctioned tournaments to be held in India. This much is for sure considering how the coutry is pushing to become a world power in the most popular sport in the planet.

In that regard, the All India Football Federation's (AIFF) has already submitted the bid application to hold the 2019 edition of U-20 World Cup, the erstwhile FIFA World Youth Championship. Yes, India will have the infrastucture ready, thanks to the U-17 World Cup, and there will be a football-conscious crowd who will pick national team jersey istead of cricket's ever present blues, or any other colours representing one of the European clubs.

But the chances of India hosting the prestigious U-20 World Cup depends how well the colts perform this October in the U-17 event, and also how the team, irrespective of results, hit the next level.

Considering these aspects, avenues have been made for the U-17 team to play in the I-League after the World Cup, with Delhi as its home ground. The AIFF technical committee, headed by Shyam Thapa, will reportedly finalise the details in a meeting in New Delhi in the first week of October.

"We want to hold on to the unit and don't want to let go the huge investment on them. I feel the I-League will be a perfect exposure for giving them real match experience and temperament to prepare for the future," Thapa told PTI.

Yes, the idea is to hold the boys together to make the cut for U-20 World Cup in 2019 for which India has submitted bid application.

He also confirmed that a meeting with the players have already been held, and relayed what the country is expecting from them.

"I had a meeting with the boys last month and told them they are the luckiest generation as their names will be etched in history books to have played the World Cup. It's about making yourself count. We have to dream with the boys now," he added.

Here, it's pertinent to mention that such a move – of fielding an age-group national team in the national league – had already been practiced by the AIFF with disastrous result.

In the hope of qualifying for the 2018 Russia World Cup, the Indian federation formed Pailan Arrows in 2010 as AIFF XI, but it was disbanded after competing in three I-League seasons. Promises galore, but none fulfilled.

But Thapa's confident that this new dream project is different and hopes that it will be different this time. And why he souldn't be? There's a FIFA events in the country, and the entire government machinery has dedicated to make it a grand success. Then, there is also the very popular Indian Super League, backed by a determined IMG-Reliance pair. And the same pair is backing the U-17 team in this pursuit.

"We getting the support of the government and have the backing of IMG-Reliance. I'm sure the development side is the way to go and will be the future of Indian football," he said.

He also revealed that the Under-17 coach Luis Norton de Matos' consent has been taken before taking this decision, and would next sit with national coach Stephen Constantine for a final discussion.