Disbanded Arrows squad to train with IMG-Reliance players

Mumbai: IMG-Reliance has invited all 26 members of the now disbanded Under 23 development team of the All India Football Federation to train along with its 40 contracted players for their upcoming IPL-style League at the Cooperage ground here.

IMG-Reliance took the decision to invite the Arrows team members to fulfill its promise to the AIFF, it said in a media release on Thursday. AIFF`s Under 23 outfit Arrows were pulled out ahead of the 2013-14 season`s I-League on August 29 due to financial condition of its primary sponsor Pailan Group. Soon after the decision to disband Arrows, AIFF had made all the 26 players available to the I-League clubs on loan, to enable the youngsters another chance of participating in the season. However, none of the I-League clubs came forward in the last 12 days to rope them in, and as a result IMG-Reliance took the decision to step in to help these talented youngsters, the release said. "The IMG-Reliance management strongly felt that these youngsters ? the future Indian footballers ? need not go through the mental stress over the uncertainties and it would be ideal to have them here in Mumbai to continue focus on their skills, game and fitness," it added. The Arrows, along with its six-member support staff headed by Sanjoy Sen (coach), would start training tomorrow at the Cooperage ground with 35 other contracted players, who began the second leg of their training camp on September 10 under Trevor Morgan. Five other players, who were part of the Indian team which finished runners-up in the SAFF Championship yesterday at Kathmandu, Nepal, would also join the camp tomorrow, the release added. PTI