JSW plans to involve itself in bigger way in next ISL

New Delhi: Restricting itself to a technical tie-up in the inaugural season of the Indian Super League, JSW, owners of I-League champions Bangalore FC, plans to increase its involvement from the second edition of the IPL-style football league.

"We already have a technical tie-up with Sun Group`s Bangalore team for ISL. From next year onwards we plan to be more actively involved, like Dempo and the Northeast team," JSW`s CMD Parth Jindal said on the sidelines of a programme, organised to felicitate the medal winning wrestlers and a judoka at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. "We have two academies in Vijaynagar in Karnataka and we are very serious about our grassroots development programmes," he stated. The Jindal group had last month announced that they would be getting into a technical tie-up with Sun Group`s Bangalore team for the inaugural season of the ISL. "The tie-up is purely a technical one and does not involve players and coaching staff from Bengaluru FC. The second year could see us getting involved in a much bigger way. This is in line with JSW`s endeavour to promote Indian football," Mustafa Ghouse, COO of Bengaluru FC, had said. As part of its development plans for Indian football, Ghouse said they have academies for each age groups -- under-11, under-13, under-15, under-17 and under-19. Bangalore FC capped off a remarkable season by winning the I-League in its debut season, a rarity in Indian football.