IndianFootball.Com's Nitin Pant caught-up with Umesh Sood, who is the Chairman of the Vision India - Delhi region and is a former Delhi Soccer Association president, to talk about the football scenario in the capital and what plans he had in store for football in Delhi in his new position.

How would you describe AFC's Delhi Vision project?

It's been an assignment given to me just a fortnight back. I've really not gone through what exactly the thought process behind it is but the only thing which I understood is to promote football in Delhi and this project has been given to two states, Delhi & Manipur. As I've taken it up recently what I understand is that we have to take football at all levels and promote it to the right earnest and it has already been started. We have already started school football championship for under-13 years and that has been taken up very well.

What are the Goals & Aims of the project?

The basic thing is to improve football and bring it to a level where we can really be known as a force to reckon with. Today, we are initially looking at the basic grass root level and we will try to bring it up from the grass root level to the top level. What we are planning to adopt this years Super League of DSA Senior Division to be an Asian Vision League. And initially we will see what we have been able to target and what to be achieved, and then we will make up the programme for furthering the cause of football in Delhi.

Just to change the name of the league, will it make any difference, as the players, clubs, infrastructure, etc. will be the same?

It will not only be limited to it, we will try and give facilities to the teams, and changing name will only be a part of it but to develop the game and we will try and promote the game in different manner. Initially we have to make a start somewhere.

What do the AFC expects from your committee do?

As I just said, I have to go through the details. I'll be able to answer it much better thereafter.

How far has this Vision been successful and what stage it is at present?

We have just started it four months back, though in Delhi it has been delayed by a year, but as I said the U-13 league for school boys has started and taken a good shape. We had very good participation of the school teams and the games are only on the weekends. We concluded this league on the 18th of this month and after that we plan to do a girls league in the same age group and we will further go up with the various other age groups. Initially about 700 children have participated in the league and we hope that in the years to come we will have a very good response to it.

Considering the lack of infrastructure, basic facilities and rigid mindset of people involved in Delhi football what you think how far will this Vision be successful?

We are going to have an independent body. We are not concerned about the mindset of other people. We have to promote football and I have some thought process going on my own. But I will put up to my committee and think we should have very good results. I really want to take football to very nook and corner of Delhi and we don't want to limit it to one corner only. And then probably you will see the results in time to come. You will yourself appreciate that things are moving in the right direction. I don't want to leave football only to Ambedkar Stadium, or in or around it. What I plan to do is to have football in 6 zones and involve former and current footballers, football officials and to organize tournaments in colonies. You see if you remember there were times like in Gole Market area there were so many steers. Each steer formed the team and that is where talent came in from and similarly I plan to talk to my committee that if we can have some tournaments in colonies - 5 A-Side, if we have ground problems or maybe 7 A-Side and develop it. In winters I think to have a two-day festival in these colonies, start the game at 10 am and wind up by 5 pm and involve the people. Then I would also like local politicians, MPs, MLAs, the people who are really looking after the area, councillors, and Resident Welfare Associations to get involved in it. We will also involve them in the game and then try to promote it in every nook and corner. For example I am quoting it to you like we have one of the joint secretaries of DSA in IIT, we can involve him. We can ask him for a small budget. We will give him the finances and due help and he can organize the tournament among the colonies of Hauz Khas, R.K. Puram, SDA; collect teams, go to the resident colonies, collect children, go around on a Sunday evening to see where are children playing football, get them together. As an initiative give them a T-Shirt with Vision India logo, a cap, a football and then have a small tournament. Similarly we would like to do in all 6 zones and the winner of each zone can be brought down to a central venue and have a tournament amongst them. This is how I want to take football across Delhi. The Vision is not restricted to present day clubs only. Then I have another plan, this year is a senior citizens year, so we will try and organize a tournament in winter. This is all my brain wave, I have to take it to my committee, how much really they appreciate then we will go ahead with it. I was thinking of a tournament Grandfather-Grandson. You see the families and the parents and the elderly people, this being a senior citizens year, like a grandfather coming out with his 7 years grandson is fit, force 5 A-Side that we can involve 5 grandparents and 5 grandchildren and 5 on the other side and make a small tournament and go ahead. This is how to promote football and tell people that football can also become a profession for youngsters. I don't want to leave it to one Baichung. This is just to encourage and involve and bring football to the doorstep of everybody. Similarly we will do it in different zones.

The AIFF website claims that "The implementation part of the project has started this year i.e. 2006 and so far the implementation is successful" but taking the example of DSA 'B' Division League where young budding football players, the future of Delhi football start there football careers not even a first aid box was there leave aside the quality of ground and other major things. What you have to say on this?

I totally agree with you but let me tell clarify two different things. Vision India now has been totally segregated from the activities of DSA. What DSA does is their baby. What Vision India is going to do is altogether a different thing. Like you commented that there was not even a first aid box, it's a pity and DSA should be taken to task for this by AIFF. But at the same time as I and you said by changing the name, no, we will try to change the image of the game and try and give more facilities and more incentives to the players. You see we have to start somewhere, we can't build up a team, we will pick up the team from current DSA committee and we will start going ahead with it.

Do you think Delhi needs more of a local initiative/support from DSA, AIFF, local people, schools, universities, media or Corporate houses rather then the AFC?

Vision Asia is part and parcel of AFC. AFC in turn gets grants and advice from FIFA. It's an ongoing change. There's no harm that if AFC get involved in promoting football in India. I see no harm in it. It is to take guidance and if they can provide very good coaches at very low cost, where is the problem for us. We should welcome it and accept it and involve people in Delhi. But the only thing I am fearing in Delhi is that we do not have enough play grounds, that is why we are involving school children and colleges. We want to catch these children young and then they will probably come up and do a good job.

You are the Chairman and Mr. Nasir Ali the secretary. You both were in the rival camps during recently held DSA elections. Won't it hinder the project or it is a result of some kind of mutual agreement made during the elections?

I like to answer you on this. Differences do occur but it is not the end of the road. You can always come back together again in life. I would like to site an example that there were elections in Delhi after two decades. Nasir Ali and I as President and Secretary brought back Delhi to a level that everybody enjoyed and there was good football for at least 10 years. Differences do occur but there is not a much bigger bridge that cannot be patched and let me confess it today that differences were not between Nasir and me, it was the people who didn't want us to work together. That is why to bring unanimity and harmony in Delhi football I stepped down from the election platform to make it more congenial for the people to understand that we are not there for the chair only. You want to be that part of the game and I think we will prove it in the time to come that Nasir and me have been able to do something more constructive for football.

As a former DSA president what do you think Delhi is lacking to come in terms of Goa, Mumbai or Calcutta football? Means what are the hurdles coming in between to make Delhi a football power?

No.1 money makes the mayor go. No finances, no grants. In my term as president for 8 years there was no dearth of money and we can even afford to have 2 leagues in football which were a grand success. My dream was fulfilled in the year 1999 when we has a floodlit final with about 20,000 people watching the match and that day is the most memorable in my term as president of DSA.
No.2 Lack of playing fields. In 60s in and around Delhi Gate there were around 10-12 football grounds which have all perished. This is not a game played on the blackboard. Today 16 senior division clubs and the so called 60 affiliated units in Delhi football, I think not even one has a permanent playfield where they can go and practice regularly. People go and kick around bare patches and form a team. It is for the love of the game and whatever they can deliver they can try and deliver. You will again ask me why Delhi teams do not show good results. Well if you don't have a ground you can't practice and this is a game which has to be taken up seriously. That is why Vision India has come to Delhi. We will try and find grounds. We will fight with the government to give us grounds. That is unless we have good grounds, we can tell our boys and give them some piece of land to play football cannot prosper.

What are your plans for the grass root level? Any kind of Academy or School League? And for Women's football?

We have already started that. Grass root level we are having our U-13 football championship at 48 venues simultaneously. That means we have involved children. We don't have any problem so far.
But we are not calling it as a championship. People tend to cheat by playing overage players. We will be giving certificates to all the participating teams. Now we are trying to request Doordarshan to take some clippings ad give us a fixed time when it will be shown to encourage youngsters. I am going to speak to the media though its too late now; I'll request them to involve themselves more and writing about this league to encourage youngsters. Unless there are 10,000 to 20,000 audiences to clap and cheer you don't get motivated.

Will you be restructuring the DSA league?

We will not be restructuring the league. The league will be played by DSA in its original phase of preliminary league. We will joint hands with the DSA to conduct the Super League. Individually I would like to speak to the clubs, take their view, and see how they are comfortable or not. We don't want to impose things on them. We will seek their advice. What do they want, how do they feel comfortable in playing, do they want a weekend game to give reprieve their boys so that they can deliver better or do they want to play on alternate days or three days or two games a week. We don't want to rush like last four years. We don't want to complete the league in 15 days and forget about it. With the basic plan to have weekend matches. This year I don't know how the registration took place, as you know yourself you being a player, that a lot of outstation players have been recruited and I don't see financially Delhi clubs can hold them for six or seven months and look after them. The finances as I said are at a big crunch. We will talk to each and every club's secretary. We will see where do they have problems and try to solve them or formulate a policy where no club has any problem and the boys don't have to play more than a game probably a week. We will try to pick four venues where football goes to other places also. It doesn't get restricted to Ambedkar Stadium only. The basic idea is to bring awareness and promote football and just talking about having one stadium and having all the matches there is not our view. We would like to organize a league which people can cherish and enjoy and we enjoy organizing it.