ISL cannot replace traditional football tournaments: SAI

Sports Authority of India (SAI) director general (DG) Injeti Srinivas said here on Monday that events like the lucrative Indian Super League (ISL) cannot replace the qualitative quotient of traditional football tournaments that have been held in the country for ages.

ISL, which was started last year, is already threatening the country's top flight national league, the I-League, with talks going on about the merger of the two in the future.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has also put on hold the Federation Cup, the country's premier knockout tournament that started in 1977, and also, most top teams do not play in the once prestigious, 127-year old Durand Cup.

Another distinguished tournament, the Rovers Cup, started in 1891, was last held in the 2000-01 season while the 1893-established Indian Football Association (IFA) shield was reduced to an Under-19 event last season.

"Today, apart from a couple of events, there are very few domestic tournaments, especially at the junior level. Fine we have the ISL and others but they are fairly new and amateur and cannot replace the old tournaments," said Srinivas.

The SAI DG said that they are quite keen on improving the standard of the world's most popular sport in the country, especially at the junior level.

"Some time back, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and SAI signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a few objectives in mind including to increase the age group tournaments at the junior level, to establish them and introduce more competitions. For that the dialogue is on," said Srinivas.

"Then we have the Under-17 World Cup in 2017 (to be held in India) which will also help the development of the sport in the country."

He added that the government has, in principle, agreed to provide financial assistance of approximately Rs.5 crore for the development of the sport at the junior level.

"Talent can only be spotted in tournaments and trials. So, the more number of tournaments the better," said Srinivas, who launched School Sports Promotion Foundation's (SSPF) National Talent Search and Nurture here on Monday.