Thirty years after he had wowed fans at the Eden Gardens (Kolkata) in the company of other New York Cosmos stars, Brazilian legend Edson Arantes de Nascimento, Pele, as he is popularly known the world over, will reportedly come to India in the month of October and will attend the final of Subroto Cup Tournament. The last time the great legend of football visited India was way back in 1977. It is understood that the three-time World Cup winner will be the guest of honour at the Ateletico de Kolkata’s first home match in the second edition of the Indian Super League (ISL) against Kerala Blasters FC at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on October 13.
There is absolutely no doubt that the visit of Pele to India will give a boost to football in the country. In an interview Pele said “when he went to United State the set up there was amateurish. Latter on it became a force to reckon with in world football when lot of experienced foreign players there”. Probably India too is going through the same transition with scores of foreign players playing in the Indian Super League (ISL).
Even though India is ranked at 144 in the FIFA world ranking, the country is making it’s presence felt as an organizer of world football tournaments. The country will be hosting the U-17 World Cup in 2017 and is all set to make a bid to organize the U-20 in the near future. Who knows in the distant future the country could also make a bid to host the FIFA World Cup.
It must have been said that after the successful first edition of the Indian Super League (ISL), the second edition of the league, which has gathered immense enthusiasm, among the football fans in the country, is all set to get the ball rolling on October 3 in the match between Chenaiyin FC and Ateletico de Kolkata at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium at Chennai. It would have been a great achievement for the organizers if they could get Pele to be the chief guest and kick start the ISL on October 3. It would be an icing on the cake for the organizers. It is understood that Pele will be in Delhi on October 15. If only the organizers could make a sincere effort to get Pele for the Inaugural ISL match. Given the popularity that the league has generated Pele might have agreed to be p-resent for the inaugural match. Nevertheless getting the legendary footballer for the Subroto Cup final is no mean achievement. Hopefully the presence of the legend will give school football a great boost as the Subroto Cup is a school football tournament.
