Nita Ambani - It is now my dream to see India qualify for FIFA World Cup.

The Chairperson of Reliance Foundation expressed her aspirations for Indian football and also announced a couple of new projects at the convention.

Speaking at the Sports Business Summit in London, part of Leaders’ Week London 2019 event, Chairperson, Reliance Foundation and Football Sports Development, Nita Ambani expressed her delight over the recent success of the Indian Super League and shared her ambitions for the future of football in India. The founder and chairperson of Reliance Foundation, which is also a founding entity of the ISL in partnership with the All India Football Federation, spoke about the contribution of the tournament in the ascension of the Indian national football team in terms of rankings and quality.

Addressing the gathering, she spoke about how her son’s passion towards the game made her realize that the sport had real potential and could have a big opportunity in India, as the game is a huge hit among the younger generations.

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Speaking in that context, she stated, “This motivated me to launch the Indian Super League for football in 2014. I'm pleased to share that in just five years, ISL has emerged as the third most watched league in India. ISL viewership for 2018-19 on TV alone was 168m and digital viewership was over 12m.”

Putting forth the vision of the ISL, and attributing it’s growth with the improvement in India’s national football team, Nita Ambani further added, “FIFA ranking has shot up from 173 to 96. It is now my dream to see India perform at the pinnacle of global football and qualify for the FIFA World Cup. This calls for the development of a vibrant ecosystem in the country - that is the vision of ISL.”

The ISL was inaugurated back in 2014 by the AIFF in partnership with IMG-Reliance and Star Sports, which included eight teams from different parts of the country. Since then, after gaining popularity and a foreign presence in terms of players and coaches, the league was extended to 10 teams and has seen more established foreign talent coming in, thus improving the overall standard of football in the country and helping the local players improve by playing alongside experienced players and coaches of international stature.

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Reliance Foundation, in partnership with the ISL, has also worked extensively in improving the grassroots football programmes in the country. On this, Nita Ambani added, “Our grassroots programme in football has so far reached out to over 1.5m children. Our youth sports programme for schools and colleges has reached out to 9m children. The Reliance Foundation junior NBA program has reached out to 11m children. Overall, across all sports, Reliance Foundation has reached out to over 21.5m children across the country. 10 years ago, it would have been unthinkable for Indian families to see football as a viable career option for their children. ISL has truly been a game-changer for thousands of young Indian footballers."

Moreover, the chairperson of the ISL also announced two new pilot projects at the summit, which will be initiated by the Reliance Foundation from November of this year.

“The children's league, which is expected to reach out to over 40,00 children under the age of 12 in the next three years and the U-17 women's football tournament - the first-ever women's tournament - to scout for talent for India's football team and this team will go on to represent India in the U-17 FIFA Women's World Cup to be hosted in India in 2020," Ambani announced at the summit.