‘I hope Chhetri does well’

“It’s great that he will finally get a chance to play for an international club as he has always wanted to play abroad,” Houghton,who has been at the helm of Indian football since 2006,said. “He should have got a chance to play for a European club but the work permit problem was a hindrance. Plus those clubs have not seen any talented Indian player doing well. When they look at India standing at 132 in the FIFA rankings,they do not want to risk employing an Indian footballer,” the coach said.

Last year,Chhetri had appeared for trials at English Championship side Coventry City,but couldn’t manage a permanent move. He was also denied work permit to join another Championship outfit,Queens Park Rangers,because of India’s FIFA ranking.

“Unless some Indian footballer performs well at the top level and the world sits back and takes notice,the problems for our budding international players will continue to remain. Bhutia’s stint at Bury FC in England second division failed to light that spark about Indian football,” Houghton said.

The I-League has disappointed Houghton because it has failed to deliver in terms the of development of the game,according to the coach. “The standard of the sport in our country has gone up due to I-League and the money has also poured in but what the clubs did was that they passed on the money to players. I’m not against players getting more money but while the footballers have become richer,the quality isn’t improving much,” he said.

Houghton said the solution was for the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to get tough with these clubs. “Barring a few clubs like JCT or Mahindra,most of the I-League clubs have no development programmes. It is time the AIFF forces them to some commitment. For instance,they can spend 60 per cent of the earnings on the players,but the rest 40 per cent should be spent in having a development programme for players between the age group of 12 to 18,” Houghton said.

The Englishman also said that lack of proper infrastructure had also not helped the cause. “I have been saying this for the last three and a half years. I even invited controversy in criticising the sports ministry,but the fact remains that if you don’t have facilities,you will not get good talent,” Houghton said.