Premier League keen to aid football development in India: Neil Saunders | Football News – Times of India

PANAJI: ATK Mohun Bagan’s 1-1 draw against West Ham United in the Next Gen Cup early this week was cheered in India and England. Last year, when India’s youth teams travelled to UK for the tournament, Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters FC fell woefully short, losing by heavy margins against their Premier League opponents. Tottenham Hotspur, for example, scored seven against KBFC, while BFC lost 3-6 against Leicester City. In Mumbai this week, Indian clubs are putting up a fight.
“The draw against West Ham, one of our leading age-group teams in Premier League, is a good indicator,” Premier League’s director of football, Neil Saunders, told TOI on Thursday.
“We had teams from under-12 (at the start), then progressed to the Next Gen Cup with under-14 and the level was comparable. As you get to the older age group, with the level of competition, professionalism and quality of Premier League, you can see the gap increase. But the fact that we are able to bring over the under-19 age-group (teams) shows that progress has been made in Indian player development.”
The Premier League has a mutual cooperation agreement with the Indian Super League (ISL) that aims to help with player, coach and referee development. The Next Gen Cup pits clubs from India against teams from England and South Africa.
Besides West Ham, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Everton are in India at the moment.

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“This partnership, borne out within us to try and develop the game in India, has allowed us many opportunities, most recently the Next Gen Cup. We have an amazing fan base who watch the Premier League in India. We are keen to attract more fans from across the world and keep growing the game. The cooperation agreement is our commitment to doing that,” said Saunders.
The second edition of the Reliance Foundation Development League (RFDL) had over 50 teams competing for national and international honours, playing over 300 competitive games during the two-month tournament. It’s a welcome change from last season when the tournament was restricted to eight teams from ISL.
The Premier League, Saunders said, remains keen to support the development of football in India, specifically focusing on player, coach and referee development.
“The Next Gen Cup provides practical experience of high-level matches and it’s part of our commitment to try and support the development of the game in India. We have been invested in this partnership for a number of years and have seen the growth already,” said Saunders.