Isac Doru: Indian footballers need more competitions for a better future

The AIFF technical director says State units and their respective development officers should play a crucial role in helping spread football throughout the country.

Isac Doru: "The harsh reality is that we need our footballers to play more games, to play more competitions." Photo: Getty Images

All India Football Federation technical director Isac Doru on Monday said players from all age-groups need to be exposed to more competitions and big games for a better future.

According to Doru, State units and their respective development officers should play a crucial role in helping spread football throughout India. “The States covered by development officers gives us opportunity to cover a larger area and a larger number of people. This larger reach can only be capitalised upon if more competitions are held, giving the footballers across all levels more opportunities to play the game and improve themselves,” Doru said.

“We need more competitions. We need more games to build a better future. I read a lot about training techniques, and this and that. But the harsh reality is that we need our footballers to play more games, to play more competitions. A larger reach will certainly help us attain that.”

'Building blocks'

Doru stressed on the significance of “capacity building” of State associations during a FIFA capacity-building workshop.

Doru stated that the State associations are the “building blocks” of Indian football. “The State associations are the bricks that build up the future of Indian football. These bricks make up the foundation. It is our job, as the federation, to work together in harmony and help football grow,” Doru said.

The 57-year-old went on to say that currently only 44 per cent of the Indian population play, or are involved in the sport in some way or the other. However, for further growth, he believes that the rest of the population also need to get involved. “We still have 55 per cent of the population where there is no footballing activity. We need to think how we can expand, how we can make football more popular,” he said.