The AIFF to come up with a “surprise move” in Indian football

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Kolkata:
The AIFF is all set to revive a surprise plan to start the Indian Arrows project from this I-League season. No doubt the present cream of Indian football has certainly been the result of the very same project which gifted players like Jeje, Pritam Kotal, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Raju Gaikwad like players to Indian football. But the complexion of Indian football have entirely changed these days, and reviving the same plan has given the births of some serious doubts on its necessity at the moment.

The purpose behind this move is certainly to ensure that the U17 footballers, who would represent the nation at the FIFA U17 World Cup in October, and the best talent from the U19 team stick together and ply their trade in the I-League.The new system of the I-League will allow the teams to field as many as five foreigners in the starting line up. It is evident that the young U17 boys might find it difficult to deal with the pressure of playing against five foreigners. It is learnt that the meeting will be taking place on tomorrow and the Head Coach of India U17 Football Team Luis Norton de Matos himself will be present there at Bengaluru.

The last time when the Indian Arrows project was introduced, it was an U21 project. But returning back to the same project with U17 kids might invite some unpleasant circumstances as they have to confront with the senior players including five foreigners. A few nasty injuries, some huge defeats might affect their confidence level in the future as well. If things become worse, the Government too might get discouraged and in the end could stop funding for the kids. And this might not be the thing the Indian football administrators would be wanting.