Poor focus on grassroot development and scouting of talent hurting football in India: Constantine

Indian national football team coach, Stephen Constantine, has pointed his finger at India's non-existent football culture as the reason behind the country failing to produce enough quality footballers over the years. Speaking to reporters at a reception hosted for him by the British High Commission, the Englishman said there wasn't enough focus on grassroot development and scouting of talent, which has resulted in a very slow progress of the game in India.

"There has been little improvement since my last term."

Constantine said there has been little improvement in the Indian game since his last term as head coach of India, which lasted for three years from 2002 to 2005. "Ten years down the line after I left the India coach's job in 2005, I can see the country has moved ahead in some areas. But at the same time, in some other areas, there has been little improvement," he said.

"In India, the players do not learn their basics at a young age and naturally they struggle in their basics when they grow up," he added. Constantine, however, added that he would leave the team in a better shape at the end of his term.

Focus on scouting of young talent

"We now have a national director for scouting, and this team will scout talent from across the country," the coach said, referring to former Indian international Abhishek Yadav, who had worked under Constantine's stewardship during the coach's first term in India more than a decade back. The Englishman also explained that along with Nicolai Adam, coach of India's U-17 team, he had scouted 27 probable players for the 2017 U-17 World Cup to be held in India.