Club culture needs to be encouraged: Bhutia

Kolkata: Club culture, which has produced world class players like Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta in

Spain, needs to be encouraged in the country, India captain Bhaichung Bhutia said on Wednesday. "It is clubs which produce players. Look at players like Xavi and Iniesta. It`s Barcelona who have produced them, and not Spain. These clubs have youth development programmes in place," Bhutia told reporters at the Calcutta Sports Journalists Club here. "We need to encourage club football. We need to have a proper system and structure in place. In turn, the players after becoming successful give back to their clubs." Asked whether he would like to be in the administration to change the standard of football in India, he said, "One person cannot make a change. We have to work together. There is no unity among ourselves. Unless there is a feeling from inside and unless everybody starts working together we cannot change. We need to think of the larger picture." Speaking about India`s preparations in Portugal for the upcoming Asian Cup in 2011, Bhutia said: "We have got to prepare well. It`s a gamble worth taking. We will not go down from where we are at the moment, but we might have chances to improve. "We need to experiment which might improve the standard of Indian football. There is a need to change the system." Hailing Indian striker Sunil Chhetri`s return from MLS to join the India camp, Bhutia said: "He has not come back permanently. It`s a very good decision by him to join the India side." Asked whether he was mulling retirement from club football, Bhutia said, "No. If at all I have to retire, I will call it quits at the international level first. At the moment, I am keen on playing in the Asian Cup." PTI Jaunpur: Two persons were killed and six injured in a gunbattle today between two rival groups during a discussion on a move to bring no-confidence against a village head at Samodpur village here, police said. Markandey Singh (70) and Surendra Singh (40) were killed this afternoon when supporters of Manoj Singh and his rival Shiv Pratap Singh clashed at the village. The police lodged an FIR in connection with the incident and launched a manhunt to arrest the culprits. PTI