I want one Lionel Messi-level player to come out of my academy and play for India: NorthEast United owner John Abraham

John Abraham also mentioned his plans to expand his academy.

John Abraham is currently the only sole owner of an Indian Super League (ISL) club. The action-movie hero has prior experience in sports and is trying to make a mark with his side, NorthEast United FC in the Indian football landscape. 

He recently was the guest at Ranveer Allahbadia’s viral podcast, The Ranveer Show, and gave us insights on his aspirations and dreams regarding football in the country and Indian football on the global stage. Here are the excerpts from his interview:

NorthEast United and the ISL 

Now that the league has been doing fairly well due to increased coverage, John Abraham spoke about it and his team at length, mentioning, “There’s one thing that needs to be mentioned – bureaucracy has been the death of Indian football. They have destroyed it completely.

“But I feel Reliance has done well supporting this league (ISL). People might criticize them but I feel that people have gotten better exposure to football and the sport itself has undergone growth in the country, because of the ISL.

But every year I face significant losses. I’m an individual owner among the other teams who are owned by multi-billion dollar corporates. So of course, it’s very tough for me to compete with them. But I’m a big fan of the North-eastern region of India.

I consider it my second home. I want to be able to present my team, NorthEast United FC, with pride. Whenever we lose, I feel so bad, Ranveer, and I nearly cry when we keep losing. It’s disheartening to see them this way and previously, there were two seasons where we weren’t in a good position at all.

But I love this team to bits. I’ve created it from scratch so I hope others help me in taking this project forward. I hope I get the backing I need, be it from governments or other entities. Assam’s Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, and Meghalaya’s Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma are fantastic people. The way they have supported me, Ranveer, it’s outstanding.”

On being an team owner

Abraham hopes for one big superstar to emerge out of Indian football. In doing so, he has taken initiative to construct an advanced sports academy for younger aspirants who don’t have access to proper facilities. Speaking on this John Abraham said, “One thing you certainly feel is vanity. But I have only one objective – legacy. I want to leave a mark on Indian football. All I ask for is one player of Lionel Messi’s level to play for India. One such player from my academy in Shillong will be a dream come true for me.

This academy I’m building will be the best in India. It will need two years and needless to say, requires massive funds. So I am begging corporates for funds because I want to provide boarding, lodging, education, and all other necessities for the poor children between eight and eighteen years of age, who will be playing for my academy.” 

Differences between Indian football academies and European football academies

The level of disparities between Indian and European football academies is huge. The seasoned actor has, however, done his homework well and has a foolproof plan to bridge that gap, as John Abraham mentioned, “I’ve personally visited European academies like those of Southampton FC, Porto, and Ajax just to see how they are built and run. I’ve learned everything and come back. My brother (Alan Abraham) is an architect.

You’ll be surprised if I tell you that my father’s name is Abraham John which is the opposite of my name. But my brother is an architect at his company – Abraham John Architects, and I’ve given him the blueprint for my academy. He has conceptualized the most beautiful academy I’ve ever laid my eyes on but it is yet to come to fruition and the final details are pending.

To fulfill that I need up to Rs 70 Crores, but I’m not going to stop. I’ll keep saving my own money and do everything in my power to make the best academy in the country.”

Indian players in the LaLiga or the English Premier League

It is the dream of every Indian fan to see players from the country play in the top-ranked European league. Be it the English Premier League or LaLiga, John Abraham gave a clear picture of the current scenario and what needs to be done John Abraham explained, “I’ll tell you. Once our grassroots-level projects and academies are strong enough, they will find opportunities abroad. ISL teams spending truckloads of money on foreign players won’t work. You have to develop Indian players and my goal is exactly that.

I aim to develop Indian boys and girls from the age of five – since we also have to think about our women’s team. I aspire to send these future stars to the youth camps in the English Premier League, Bundesliga and in Spain so that they can learn from the very best. I’ll bring in Portuguese and Spanish coaches from those leagues, to guide our kids better and get that one star.

Look at Son Heung Min, who plays for Tottenham Hotspurs, or my favourite player, Mohammed Salah, who’s at Liverpool FC. So it will take time. Rome was not built in a day and Indian Football will need time to develop.

Currently, we rank very low in the international football scenario and we have to take responsibility for that. So, I will attempt to concentrate my efforts and money on developing our grassroots-level facilities rather than on current players.”

Timeline for future star to emerge from Indian football

The actor-philanthropist is extremely hopeful that his country will be able to produce a world-class player in less than the next 15 years. John Abraham said, “Yes, maybe not even 15 years. I’m hopeful that will be able to see that in the next seven to eight years. I own a club because I love India and I want to see one Indian player compete on the global stage of football.

“That is my dream. If that happens, the league will pick up (pace and rate of growth). If there aren’t as many talents and players, this league will never pick up.” 

Expected stars not hitting the mark 

NorthEast United FC have had proven stars not hitting the ground running or keeping up with the things expected of them. But Abraham mentioned that one should take it in their stride as he concluded:

“I feel disappointed but it’s a game after all. I look at it as a sport so our time will come. I’ve been a sportsman and I know how it works.

Just like when a film doesn’t fare well, you have to respect the audience’s reviews; that the film wasn’t good or it didn’t connect with them. So you can’t look for excuses like the release date was wrong or your marketing was bad; you have to accept that the film was not good. Wake up, smell the coffee, and move on.”

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