I-League CEO Sunando Dhar feels the club licensing criteria should prompt the teams to invest more in grassroots and develop talent in their own region.
"The All India Football Federation had introduced Club Licensing in 2012 where one of the main focus was on to develop home grown talent," Dhar stated on the side-lines of FICCI's GOAL Summit 2019.
"The club licensing programme has been one of the best things to have happened to Indian football. It has done wonders by professionalising the setup in a unique way. It prompted the clubs to invest in grassroots and develop talent in their own region," he explained.
"We have introduced the home grown rule for the same reason in the Hero I-League as it would drastically increase the talent pool available. We have touched 15 states through the leagues that are running, be it even the youth leagues, now the next objective is to touch each and every state."
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content