India's top football league "is asking expatriates to help keep the struggling sport alive in their cricket-mad homeland," according to Preeti Kannan of THE NATIONAL. The I-League's organizers will on Saturday "ask expats to dig deep for the beautiful game and invest millions of dirhams in at least two new clubs." The All India Football Federation "will meet potential investors at Dubai's Ritz Carlton." AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das said, "We want people to buy into the potential of Indian football. We are confident overseas investors could help to revive the sport." Ten potential investors "have already agreed to meet football officials on Saturday." The timing could have been better as the Indian Premier League, the int'l Twenty20 cricket competition, began Wednesday. One of the 10 possible investors is Missan Computers CEO Amir Mohammed. He said, "The logic is very simple. Football has the maximum viewers around the world. Of course, Indians are crazy about cricket. But the fact is every sport is rising in India. Given the fan following for football in India, it has a lot of opportunities" (THE NATIONAL, 4/4).
