John Abraham urges local fans to back NEUFC
SHILLONG: In his maiden press conference in the city on Wednesday, NEUFC co-owner John Abraham said that the next season of the Indian Super League (ISL) may see Shillong host at least two to three games. Shillong, according to the Bollywood star, missed out this time as the infrastructure here did not match the standards set by FIFA for an event like the ISL.
The games require high definition floodlights besides other facilities which are not available at the moment but Abraham expressed confidence that the city will certainly prepare itself to host the ISL within a couple of year’s time if not next year.
“The passion for football in Shillong and the region is unparalleled in the country and we really wanted to bring some matches here… We have already spoken to IMG-Reliance StarSports and we are hoping next year or the year after we can get 2-3 matches here and probably get one more in Imphal or Aizawl,” Abraham said in the press conference where NEUFC team advisor Ronnie Lahiri and co-owner Larsing Ming among others were also present.
John personally invites fans from Shillong
Abraham also urged the team’s fans from Shillong to back the side. “I have come to Shillong as I wanted to come to the heart of our fan base. The football fans here have been supporting our players through their careers in the Shillong Lajong FC. I want to personally invite all of them to now show their support as these boys embark on this new exciting journey of the Hero ISL.”
Talking more about the passion for the game in NE, the Bollywood star said the players were ecstatic with the response of the crowd in their opening encounter against Kerala Blasters on Monday last.
The energy in the stands made it feel like a world cup match said one of the foreign players after the game that NEUFC won 1-0 thanks to a first half goal by Koke.
Visibly excited after the first win Abraham said, “We have a very young team that has fighting spirit more than anything else.”
‘Will play our heart out against Kolkata’
The Highlanders will next take on Atletico de Kolkata in Guwahati on Thursday and football enthusiast Abraham said his team will put up a strong fight against the visitors.
“Kolkata is a tough side but we’ll put up a fight like no one has ever seen,” he said with a smile.
Backing his boys the NEUFC owner said, “We’re a young side and we must be allowed to make mistakes, allowed to grow. Our players are here to stay. In the first year we hope to give a really good fight. But if someone asks us the same question in year no. 3, I’d say pretty confidently that we’re going to win this.”
Abraham elaborated that while other franchises in ISL had in their ranks domestic players from all over the country, the domestic players for NEUFC belonged to the region and that added to the advantage of the side.
“They play as though they were in a war, and the same enthusiasm has got onto the foreign recruits,” Abraham said.
John refuses to dig deep into ownership controversy
Meanwhile, Abraham refused to say much on the controversy that saw one of the Guwahati-based co-owners, Sanjive Narain, give up his stakes in the club recently.
“It’s absolutely sad that internal discussions got out but I really would like to keep it private. All I can say is we’re absolutely credible people. We are contractually bound. And we abide by our contracts. Unfortunately after what was said and done we had the chief minister, Papon, Zubin (during the kit launch) and no one really got into any controversies and we would like to honestly stay away from controversies. And I think the first game has put everything to rest. It was an unfortunate, minor incident that doesn’t matter in the larger scheme of things,” Abraham said.
Abraham also refuted claims that Assam MP Gaurav Gogoi was associated with the side. “Gaurav Gogoi has nothing to do with NEUFC,” he said.
Very clear that team should have been named Northeast United
Talking about the hullabaloo of sorts over the name of the club the Bollywood star said, “While naming the team we were very clear from the start that the philosophy is eight states united. We are also very grateful to the Assam government for lending us the stadium. Guwahati is the destination as far as logistics is concerned. There are people, especially aggrieved parties, who wanted the team to be called Guwahati and riling people up. But we were very clear from the beginning that the team would be called North East United. This is a philosophy of eight states and we have given Guwahati the responsibility not just of being capital of one state, but looking after eight states…We are looking to spread the philosophy of NEUFC.”
Meanwhile, NEUFC co-owner Larsing Ming rubbished reports that he might give up his stakes in the side in the next season as was claimed by a media report.