Emphasising the need to restore Indian football's "glorious past", Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Vikram Verma assured the All India Football Federation that the government would do everything possible towards development of the sport in the country.

Addressing a conference on 'Indian Football', in Delhi on Thursday, Verma said despite the increasing popularity of cricket in the country, football remains as a mass-based sport and is the most popular game in the world.

He appreciated the steps taken by the AIFF and patted the governing body for giving the game a fresh impetus, saying, "There is some improvement witnessed in the football scenario in the past few years."

Verma said FIFA's study on the Indian football scenario and its suggestions are steps in the right direction.

"I think, Indian football has a good future. There is a lot of talent in the country," he added.

The minister admitted that the country failed to cope with the systematic development and growth of professional football compared to the international level, particularly in Asia. He said the government has been providing support in the training of footballers at the regional and national level through the Sports Authority of India to the "'maximum extent possible".

All India Football Federation president Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi said the federation is in the process of reversing the declining trend with the active support and collaboration of FIFA, the world governing body, and the Asian Football Federation.

He said the AIFF, on the advice of FIFA, had introduced the National League in 1996, which is the first step towards the reversal of declining fortunes.

The AIFF president said the federation has drawn up a comprehensive proposal to launch a project World Cup 2010 by according full dependence on the under-14 and under-20 talent.

Dasmunshi regretted that the sport has to fight a "grim struggle" to secure adequate media coverage, which seems overtly biased towards cricket and tennis.

UNI