American football has been formally recognized as an official college sport by India's collegiate sports governing body. The Association of Indian Universities decided to include American football as a regular event on its National University Games schedule starting in '15-16. Following a unanimous decision by a panel of 50 universities during AIU's annual general meeting, American football can now be played by all AIU member universities and their affiliated colleges -- more than 35,000 -- throughout India. "We've lobbied for five years," said Elite Football League of India CEO Richard Whelan, who is convinced tackle football will take over the country. "It really shows that the EFLI is not playing games. We are here to stay. We’ve built this foundation over five years. We aren’t just a commercial venture. We are going to become the second or first largest sport of India." As one of 42 AIU sanctioned sports, EFLI will be able to provide students with full-ride scholarships to play American football. On the business side, the recognition by AIU provides the EFLI with entire universities for marketing and sponsorship purposes. "We now offer gigantic value for sponsors," said Whelan. "Now we have huge merit, so sponsors are starting to line up." In a letter to Whelan, AIU Joint Secretary for Sport Gurdeep Singh wrote, "We hope the game of American football will be very popular in the university sector in India within a time span of five years. ... The future of the game of American Football in India is bright. It needs the financial and technical investment to glamorize and revolutionize the modern concept of competitive sports in India."
 |
Richard Whelan
Source: EFLI |
PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT: The financial and technical support will come from the EFLI. The professional league, which will kick off its second season in November, works closely with Indian universities through its EFLIU program. EFLIU's main goal is to connect universities with the league's pro teams in order to establish a feeder system for talent -- on and off the field. Earlier this year, 16 universities competed in the first All India Inter University American Football Championship. The "demonstration" tournament, which was organized by AIU in collaboration with EFLI and Universal Basketball Alliance of India, was held in Patiala, Punjab from Feb. 27-March 2. The second edition will be bigger and telecast nationwide, said Whelan. The EFLI has an agreement with Ten Sports to telecast the championship game, called Elite Bowl, which is scheduled to take place in late September or early October.
