Sunil Chhetri urges AIFF to include teams from J&K, Andaman for I-League
THE INDIAN FOOTBALL CAPTAIN Sunil Chhetri has urged AIFF to have a "Pan-Indian touch" by having clubs ranging from Jammu and Kashmir to Andaman & Nicobar islands for the tourney.
"I would eventually want to see I-League evolve into a panIndia tournament. You want one league for the whole nation maybe with more than 17 teams catering to about every state,"
The leading Indian goal scorer told PTI in an exclusive interview ahead of the Hero I-League launch ceremony in Kolkata.
"I would love to see a team from Jammu and Kashmir, Andaman, Kerala, Chennai, make it a pan-India presence," the highest international goal-scorer for India said.
The captain refused to comment on whether the much talked about merger of ISL and I-league is possible or not.
"ISL and I-League are two different tournaments. I-League is improving every year with a lot of Indian talents and a good mix of foreign players. It's very competitive."
Out of the 11 teams that played in last year, three clubs- Pune FC, Bharat FC and Royal Wahingdoh have pulled out while Dempo has been relegated. Including the new entrants DSK-Shivajians and Aizawl FC, the I-League 2015-16 will be played between nine clubs.
Chhetri said the I-League clubs should study the northeast club's model while citing the example of Shillong Lajong FC.
"We've to promote I-League. It's important for all the clubs to promote their own clubs. Look at Lajong, they do really well in getting the crowd into the stadium.
"At Bengaluru FC, we improve our fan base every year. There's also no problem of getting crowd for Mohun Bagan and East Bengal...
"It's only in Goa where we face a problem and it depends on the club and AIFF to evolve a marketing strategy for the Goan teams."
The Bengaluru FC captain said they're looking forward to the I-League where they were the runner-up last season and emerged champions as debutants in 2013-14.
"We've had a great pre-season (with SAFF Cup triumph and ISL exposure) that will give us a great platform. We have been playing for last three months. I hope everyone is fresh."
The team now has eight new faces including three youngsters from India U-19 squad Chhetri said: "We've the likes of Alwyn George, Kim Song Yong, Len Doungel, Amrinder Singh and three youngsters -- Daniel (Lalhlimpuia), Malsawmzuala from Mizoram and Nishu (Kumar) from Uttarakhand -- who are very talented.
"All the teams are very strong. I'm looking forward to a tough season ahead," said the Blues captain.
Bengaluru FC will take on Salgaocar FC at the Tilak Maidan, in Goa January 9 as the defending champions Mohun Bagan will kick off the tournament against debutants Aizawl FC in Kolkata.
