Football needs quality foreigners: Dashmunshi

Avearge foreign football players are no good for clubs or the Indian football, says the All India Football Federation.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Thursday advised clubs to desist from buying non-descript foreign players in order to ensure that the quality of the game does not suffer.

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"The clubs should inquire about the foreign players from the governing body of football in that country about his ranking and quality," AIFF President Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi said.

He cautioned that before buying a certain player, ''clubs should know for sure whether he has played football in the first division or the second division in his home country''.

"On many occasions, we have seen that clubs have signed students who have hardly ever kicked a football, their only qualification was having a foreign passport."

Good foreign players would improve the quality of the domestic game and also give Indian youngsters a chance to learn from them, he said.

The AIFF supremo was speaking at the launch function of the 10th edition of the National Football League, which takes off on January 10.