Football team from Brazil may visit India

Kolkata: This may sound a like a dream to the Indian football fans, but Brazil colts are likely to visit India along with teams from Russia, China and South Africa for the proposed BRICS tournament next year.

The proposal had come during the 6th BRICS Summit at Brazil, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from July 14-16, just after the conclusion of the FIFA World Cup on July 13. "Our Prime Minister recently attended the BRICS Summit in Brazil. They have sent a proposal to organise a football tournament among the BRICS nations. "Blueprint is not yet ready but the organisers are keen to hold the first edition in India," AIFF general secretary Kushal Das told reporters at the inauguration of East Bengal sports lounge here today. He also said that the process has been initiated with the visit of Brazil ambassador. "He had already met us to take this forward. Nothing has been finalised but it may take place early next year. "The AIFF has requested them to send either U-17 or U-19 teams to bridge the embarrassing gap between the teams with India ranked 150th while Brazil are world no 7," said Das. "The only point of concern is that how India would compete with the heavyweight nations like Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa. So we have sent a proposal whether they can send their U-17 or 19 teams to compete in the tournament. I think it would be a better idea," he added. In another development, the AIFF general secretary said Czech professional club -- FC Viktoria Plzen -- will tour India in the second week of January in an exchange programme. "They want to hold a three-week long camp with Sporting Clube de Goa and also play along with other I-League clubs in early January. "The Czech want to augment the relation between the two countries with the medium of football. Under such an exchange programme, India Under-23 team also visited Czech Republic and had a two-week camp," said Das. He further said AIFF would ensure that the tour does not clash with the I-League, which is also slated for early next year.