Football
India's FIFA ranking shot up after ISL : Nita Ambani
Nita Ambani, on Tuesday, attributed the Indian Super League (ISL) for India’s meteoric rise in the FIFA rankings. She said that after 2014, India’s “FIFA ranking has shot up from 173 to 96” while addressing the Sports Business Summit.
Nita Ambani's address at the Sports Business Summit revolved around the entire Indian Sport ecosystem. In her speech titled 'Inspiring a Billion Dreams: The India Opportunity’, she expressed her dream for the future of sports in India, innovations in Indians sports and her vision for making the right to sports a fundamental right.
When it came to Football, she shared her vision to develop a football ecosystem in the country. She being the Chairperson of Reliance foundation, who started ISL in 2014 said that " I am pleased to share that in just 5 years, ISL has emerged as the third most watched league in India". The ISL is 10-team affair and is all set to start from October 20 this year.
Chennaiyin FC are crowned champions during the final of the Hero Indian Super League between Bengaluru FC and Chennaiyin FC held at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru, India on the 17th March 2018 Photo by: Ron Gaunt / ISL / SPORTZPICS
"It is now my dream to see India perform at the pinnacle of global football and qualify for the FIFA World Cup", she said. This would be possible with a strong vibrant ecosystem in the form of the ISL. The Reliance Foundation grassroots programme in football has reached out to over 1.5 million children. "The ISL has truly been a game changer for thousands of young Indian footballers", she added.
Nita Ambani also spoke of two upcoming projects that the Reliance Foundation would take up in November under the ISL. The first one would be the Children's League which would cover almost 40,00 children in around 3 years and the other project would be the U-17 football tournament,the first ever women's tournament. She said that this initiative would aid to scout for talent for the Indian football team in the U-17 Women's World Cup which would be held in India in 2020.
Nita Ambani also added after the ISL started in 2014,"India's FIFA ranking has shot up from 173 to 96". The ISL has definitely aided to build a strong football ecosystem in the country in terms of viewership,quality of performance as well as grassroots development.
