Kerala Blasters have snapped up former Espanyol midfielder Azrack Mahamat for the third season of the Indian Super League.
With the Indian Super League only a month and a half away, all teams are looking to fill up their rosters and bring in quality players to give themselves a shot at glory. The recent addition is that of midfielder Azrack Mahamat, who has been signed on a one-year-deal by the Kerala Blasters.
Speaking about a new step in his career, the former Espanyol player said (via The Times of India): “One of my best memories is my excitement on being selected to go to the Clairfontaine national football center at the age of 13. I am feeling a similar excitement on joining the Kerala Blasters for the Indian Super League.
“The pace and level of the competition in India, especially in the ISL, is now of international standards and I look forward to playing under coach Steve Coppell.”
Indian youngster to train with Bayern Munich
11 yrs old Chandan Nayak from Bhubaneswar (Odisha) selected to train at Bayern Munich (Germany) as an academy player pic.twitter.com/100ihz6ufO
— ANI (@ANI_news) August 22, 2016
India’s 11-year-old Chandan Nayak is making the news as he has been invited to attend a two-month trial at German giants Bayern Munich’s youth academy. The Bhubhaneshwar born youngster is certainly overjoyed by the opportunity and is hopeful of doing something for his nation.
“I am very happy. I want to become a player for the Indian team one day. I really want to thank my coach,” Chandan told ANI.
His coach Jayadev Mahapatra spoke very highly about the 11-year-old. He said: “This boy’s very talented and gifted. We spotted him when he was very young and he’s been training with us for the last three to four years.”
Nayak will be leaving for Germany on the 25th of August. As a part of his training, he will be playing alongside Bayern Munich captain Philip Lahm. A total of 120 students from all over the world will be attending the training camp and will be trained by the finest coaches the country has to offer.
AFC and AIFF set up joint task force
According to the Times of India, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) officials visited the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) headquarters in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. The two footballing bodies set up a joint task force with a view to share their plans for the future structure of Indian football.
General secretary Kushal Das led the AIFF delegation and helped outline the proposed plans for development of football in India to AFC management. The first official meeting is scheduled for 27th September 2016.
AFC General Secretary Dato Windsor John said: “The AFC has been following the developments in India extremely closely. The AFC’s Vision and Mission sets the goal of ensuring that football is the number one sport in Asia and India is a very important country if we are to achieve that objective.”
“Football in India has great potential for growth and development as was outlined by AIFF and it is important that we get the right structures and programmes in place so that the sport in India can grow – and this is something AFC can assist with.”
