Mumbai: Bollywood actor John Abraham who co-owns North East United FC, the Guwahati franchise of the upcoming Indian Super League, said his team will look to Shillong and Sikkim as alternate venues after the first season of the league.
The team is based in Guwahati, but has been named with an eye on the entire North East region. Shillong Lajong FC managing director Larsing Ming Sawyan is also a co-owner of the franchise.
Abraham also said that his team management’s aim is to concentrate on players from the North East region only.
“We were very clear that we would select players from the North East. Most of the players in our team are from the Under-19 lot and also players from Under-20,” he said here on Tuesday.
NE United have retained a set of 14 domestic players from their tie-up with the I-League club Lajong.
Abraham said the franchise’s focus is on the grassroots level and would like to produce a strong team for the future, keeping in mind the U-17 World Cup that would be held in India in 2017, adding that the team is looking to rope in young international players.
“We have put success secondary. We are concentrating on grassroots. We know that India would be hosting the U-17 World Cup in 2017. We want to concentrate on the young talent. We have got a very formidable U-19 team in Shillong Lajong, which is our partner.
“We want to pull out all the talent from there and hone those skills and it may take a couple of years. We don’t mind taking a beating at this point of time, which is actually not the case but we would rather have a very strong Indian team for the future,” he said.
Praising the organisers for selecting the North Eastern city, he said, “Policy wise, North East has always been kept away from the rest of India. It is time now for people to realise that North East is the true region where football is born in this country.
“We are concentrating a good mix of players. At any given point of time, there could be six international players and five Indian players and that mix could change. We are looking at a good healthy mix with probably more Indian players than international players.”
“Development is an area we are concentrating on. It is not just about buying out players and trying to win in the first year. We want to sustain and we want to develop a strong team for the future. We want to have a great youth team which can play in the U-17 World Cup,” he said.
The franchise has signed Spanish defender Joan Capdevila as their marquee player.
Abraham said the ISL is a place where Indian football players would get a platform to showcase their talent. (PTI)