"We must give credit to them (foreign recruits). The standard of Indian football has gone up because of them," Dutta, who is here in connection with the ongoing 34th Federation Cup, told reporters.
Asked if the presence of foreigners would hamper the prospect of Indian footballers, he replied in the negative.
"In many counts, they are much ahead of us and their presence has made a difference in the standard of our game," said Dutta, also the Chairman of Federation Cup committee.
Foreign recruits would not affect the Indians but would provide them a sort of international exposure, Dutta said.
On the poor performance of Indian strikers in recent tournaments when the country was targetting participation in the 2022 World Cup, he said Indian footballers have plenty of talent but need to be groomed properly.
"We too have good strikers," he said referring to yesterday's impressive performance of AIFF's developmental side, Kolkata based 'Pailan Arrows', at the Federation Cup lung opener here.
Without having a single foreigner, 'Pailan Arrows' fought hard and held I-league champions Dempo SC.
"We are focusing on preparing our Under-17 team for the 2017 World Cup, which we would be bidding for," he said and appealed to state governments and the corporate sector to contribute in infrastructural development for the promotion of the game in the country.
