Magan favours state-wise football academies

Kozhikode, Jan 24 (UNI) Former Indian skipper and Arjuna awardee Magan Singh today underlined the need for setting up of football academies in all the states for the development of the game in the country.

Talking to newspapers here, he said Rs two crore, reportedly allocated by the FIFA for development of the game in the country, could be used for this purpose.

Mr Magan also advocated for the appointment of former players of repute as coaches for spotting and training young talents in the field.

Conducting of more and more tournaments between local and foreign teams would be beneficial for giving exposure to the youngsters in the country, he added.

On appointment of foreign coaches, he said ''they would come and go''. Efforts must be made to provide expert coaching to the spotted players, he added.

Alleging that the game of late, lacked encouragement, he said efforts must be made by concerned authorities to create public support for the game.

Echoing Mr Magan's, sentiments, former Internaional Bhupinder Singh Rawat said football federations should make efforts for the improvement of the game throughout the country.

Mr Rawat said the Indian football was one of the leading teams in Asia till 1970. Many local football clubs flourished during the period, he added.

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