The India coach has not ruled out the possibility of selecting players from the I-League for the national team in the future...
Indian national team head coach Igor Stimac hailed the All India Football Federation's (AIFF) efforts behind-the-scenes to develop Indian football.
In a chat with AIFF TV, the Croatian manager spoke about the work being done to improve Indian football and said that he is hopeful that the hard work will pay off very soon.
What did Stimac say?
"People who see Indian football, they only see ISL or the national team playing but they cannot see those things happening behind the scenes, what we are doing with the grassroots program, the baby leagues with the youth development program. This work will be seen very soon. It is being seen already with those youngsters coming through Indian Arrows. Last season, we sent my staff to help the Indian Arrows side. Venkatesh is in charge there who is my first assistant. Some of the players who came through this work last season to the ISL, were recognised as very talented and ready to play in the ISL," said the Croatian coach.
The India coach also answered his critics who questioned him for not paying attention to the I-League. Stimac mentioned that Venkatesh, who is a part of his coaching staff, is in charge of the Indian Arrows side and is watching the I-League from close quarters.
He also opined that the I-League currently functions as a feeder to the Indian Super League (ISL) but he also mentioned that the doors of the national team for I-League performers aren't shut.
"Some people were worried that I didn't follow I-League this year but I have Venkatesh there and he is involved in every single game so I have great numbers, statistics from the I-League. That is the way we follow. ISL is the professional part of Indian football, it is very well organised and from this part, the players are coming to the national team.
"From I-League, because it has a lower quality of football, I consider I-League for now as a filter for the ISL. It is a platform where young Indian players develop, grow and gets recognised by ISL clubs and signed by them. Which doesn't mean that some of the I-League players can't get on the national team list," said the India coach.
Growth of Baby League in India
While speaking about the Golden Baby League project of the Indian FA, Stimac pointed out that the number of baby leagues has increased manifold across the country in the last two years.
"Baby Leagues are how football starts. It helped massively to boost the promotion of football in India. I think last year we handled over 30,000 games in this league all over India. A year before that it was 12,000 games. It will only go up. Football is becoming very popular. It takes time, but we need to be very confident about what we do, how we handle this, we need to be honest and give chance to the youngster to play football," said Stimac.