EPL giants Chelsea eye Indian market

New Delhi: In a boost for Indian football, English Premier League giants Chelsea Football Club said they are closely watching the Indian market to find like-minded corporate partners.

"We want to enter the Indian market with grassroots level engagement. Chelsea FC does not want to come to India just to play a match as we are committed to development of football in this country," Ben Wells, Club`s head of marketing, said while speaking at the International Football Arena (IFA) round-table. The gathering discussed at length the ways to increase awareness level across India to make football viable for investments, merchandising and international partnering.National team coach Bob Houghton said "in order to develop and train our team, it is imperative that we infuse technical know-how from international teams and not from international clubs. We also need to consolidate our existing calendar of tournaments to make the same more competitive.""India`s immediate aim is to be in the top 10 teams in Asia. The football association in tandem with various partners are working towards training and development of the current Indian team and the junior team," said All India Football Federation (AIFF) general secretary Alberto Colaco. PTI