Strata to sell Indian football

In another serious effort to lift the standard of football in the country, the All India Football Federation on Tuesday announced a new tie-up with a sports company to market the game.

After going professional six years ago, the AIFF has finally roped in 'Strata' to sell the game in a cricket-crazy nation.

Strata, in turn, has promised to get the sixth National Football League, which kicks-off on Tuesday simultaneously in Jalandhar and Goa, a sponsor.

As per the deal, which will come into force from April 2002, Strata will organise all the major tournaments, like the NFL, Federation Cup, Santosh Trophy, and pay AIFF Rs 220 million over a period of five years in unequal instalments.

"Strata will keep a profit of 30 per cent and anything more will be shared with the AIFF," the federation's president, Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, told reporters. He added that AIFF will also share a percentage of that amount with the clubs.

Regarding the NFL, Dasmunshi said the AIFF was unable to rope in sponsors due the September 11 terrorist strikes in United States and the subsequent military action against Afghanistan.

The managing director of Strata, Alamgir B Kashmiri, expressed confidence that football would regain its lost glory as in the 1960s when India was a force to reckon with in Asia.

"Can't you find eleven footballers from a population of one billion. Our mission is to help India qualify for the 2010 World Cup," Kashmiri asked.

"Right now there is only a semi-professional system in India. We want to make it fully professional. India can do it with the kind of infrastructure and passion for the game that it has," Kashmiri said.