Centralised set up must to develop football in India: Coach

Bangalore, Oct 4 (UNI) India should put in place a centralised set up and bring in drastic changes in its entire football development programme to make the country a force to reckon with in soccer, Indian football Coach Robert Douglas Houghton has said.

Houghton, in the city to train the Indian team facing Japan in the Asia Cup qualifying match to be held here on October 11, told reporters last night that the whole set up, beginning from preparing the under-16 team to training the seniors, should be revamped.

''It is high time we improve our position as the 27th team in Asia and 129th in the world. The development programme we are having now has to change and be made more professional. We have to have separate set up for the Under-16, Under-18 and Under-20 teams, which should include separate set of professionals like coaches, trainers, physios and other officials,'' he said.

Unwinding an ambitious roadmap for the future, Houghton said the country should have a centralised development programme in a bid to qualify for the World Cup in the future.

''I hope we can achieve this by 2014 World Cup, provided we have a professional set up. More important is that we have a fully equipped central facility to train footballers. We have to be among the top five in Asia in six years to stand a chance to qualify for the 2014 World Cup. I am really hopeful that we can achieve this. To make this a reality, the authorities should think of providing permanent staff and facility for the national team,'' he said.

MORE UNI RS-MSP GD RKN1602