"Turning cricket fan into football fan is difficult because...": Sunil Chhetri

New Delhi [India], December 8 (ANI): Former India skipper Sunil Chhetri reflected on increasing the popularity of Indian football and said that turning a cricket fan into a football fan is difficult because both are different sports.
Earlier in 2024, Chhetri announced his retirement from the Indian National Team. His last game for the country was against Kuwait in the FIFA World Cup Qualifier match at the iconic Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on June 6.
In an exclusive interview with ANI, Sunil Chhetri said that it is difficult to ask cricket fans to watch football since both are different sports.
"I think it's difficult. What we can target is the percentage of people who watch Premier League and World Football. To turn a cricket fan into a football fan is difficult because of two different sports. It just, I mean you can love golf, you can like chess and I can like badminton. For me to completely change and not watch or put less devotion to badminton and go to chess is difficult. For one to completely change and to put more devotion into badminton is difficult," Chhetri said.
The 40-year-old added that the footfall of people watching world football in India is humongous. He said that China and India are the biggest markets for world football.
Chhetri offered advice on how to make Indian football more well-known and suggested that viewers of international football should concentrate more on Indian domestic football.
"What we can target is because the footfall of people watching world football in India is humongous. In India, we consume world football like anything. China and India are the biggest markets for world football. If you can get those people to watch domestic football, we are going to be triumphant," he added.
Sunil Chhetri kicked off his professional football journey at Mohun Bagan in 2002. Chhetri helped India win the 2007, 2009, and 2012 Nehru Cup, as well as the 2011, 2015, 2021 and 2023 SAFF Championship. He also led India to victory in the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup, which helped India qualify for its first AFC Asian Cup in 27 years.
Chhetri received the Arjuna Award in 2011, and the Padma Shri in 2019. In 2021, he became the first footballer to get the Khel Ratna Award, India's highest sporting honour.
In a career that spanned over 19 years, the Arjuna Award winner has 94 goals in 150 matches on the international stage. Interestingly, Indian football talisman Sunil Chhetri is fourth overall in the all-time international goal scorers' list. Chhetri played a major role in India's footballing fortunes in the last decade, earning legendary status in the nation's sporting history. (ANI)