Chennai gets its first I-League team

Minerva Punjab FC have already plied their trade in the Second Division League 2015-16 having secured the second position. “With Chennai City FC & Minerva Punjab FC joining the fray now, we have 10 teams competing in the next I-League. Now, we have representatives from Chennai and Punjab, which means we’ll reach out to more supporters and newer markets,” AIFF Secretary Kushal Das said. 

Chennai City FC owner Rohit Ramesh said the step taken is in the right direction to develop football in the state. “We wanted to be here (in the I-League) when we acquired Netaji Club three years back. However, a lot of technical difficulties like players, a huge bank guarantee prevented us from entering the league. But now we have sorted and it has paid off. We have 33 districts in the state and the talent pool is enormous and we hope to do justice to it. We are looking at a good mix of experienced, local and foreign players to ply our trade,” Rohit said. 

With the league starting on January 7, Rohit said former Tamil Nadu coach and pro-licence holder A Robin Charles Raja will be at the helm of the team and Pune City FC’s Dharmaraj Ravanan will be the team’s captain. “Both of them have experience and it would be a good test for them as a coach, captain and as a club,” Rohit added. Rohit hoped budding footballers from the state would be given a chance to get a taste of top-quality football. “If you look at players such as Dhanpal Ganesh or Dharmaraj Raavanan, they had to move out of the state to get opportunities to play in the L-League. We hope to change that,” he said.