John Abraham Launches North East United Football Club
Football fans across the North East were ecstatic when Guwahati was selected as one of the eight franchise cities of the proposed Indian Super League (ISL). The ISL is a football League promoted by IMG , Reliance and Star India which is all set to kick off from mid September to November 2014.
In April this year, the winning bids were announced and the consortium comprising of Bollywood actor John Abraham and Shillong Lajong FC were awarded the Guwahati Franchise. Guwahati had found its place in the list of 8 cities for the 1st edition of the Indian Super League (ISL) in place of Chennai.
The team was unveiled in an event held in the city today and named “North East United Football Club”.
Speaking at the function, John Abraham said “I am a firm believer in the footballing talent that exists in the North East and proud to be associated with owning a football Club from the region. Our objective is to harness the talent and combine the footballing potential of the region into one team that we hope shall become an engine and platform that will power Indian football forward in the future.”
India is a country of 1.2 billion people where over 50% of the population is below 25 years of age. Sports is therefore gaining traction in the country and is mostly followed by everyone in this age group. The aim of the Franchise is to take football to the next level in the North East in order improve the overall development of the sport in India and also provide new opportunities to talents across the region.