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The Indian Super League is set to ignite the passion for domestic football in India, says former Newcastle United and Sunderland striker Michael Chopra. The league, which begins in October 2014, has attracted a number of well-known names in the larger football world as well as in India. World Cup winner Alessandro Del Piero recently signed for Delhi Dynamos, whilst Chopra's club, the Kerala Blasters, are owned by cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. In an interview with ESPN FC at the Soccerex global convention in Manchester, Chopra spoke enthusiastically about the project and the quality of players the Indian Super League will host. "There's Robert Pires, Del Piero, David James is my manager now, and Freddie Ljunberg's there as well," Chopra said. "They might be coming to the end of their careers, but I think the Super League has needed big players to come in and try and take it off. They've been great players in the past at international and club level, so they'll be able to pass their experience on to all the Indian players out there, which will only benefit the country." The 30-year old striker also reflected positively on the impact the Indian Super League has had in world news, and the talk now being generated around Indian football. "You go back three months ago and no-one was even talking about Indian football, no-one knew any of the teams in Indian football, and then this Super League takes off, they get some big players there and now everyone's talking about it," Chopra added. "Football hasn't really taken off out there but once it starts to happen and starts to take off I believe everyone will follow it and all the stadiums will be full. With the players that have gone out there, people will want to go and watch them play because you don't get those type of players in that country." The striker's most recent spell in English football was at crisis club Blackpool, before leaving Bloomfield Road at the end of the 2013-14 season. Yet despite offers from elsewhere, Chopra chose a move to India for family as well as footballing reasons, harbouring hopes of playing for the Indian national side. "I could've gone to Dubai, I could've gone to America but I liked the chance of me playing in the [Indian] national team and playing in the Super League which is happening now, and also the I-League. The main factor, obviously, is my dad's side of the family being from India, that pointed me in the direction of India." There are, Chopra conceded, some troubling aspects to the game in India, mainly with the lack of infrastructure in a country where wealth inequality is so stark. Yet the Kerala Blasters player hopes to make a difference off the pitch as well as on it. "If you look at the academies out there, there's nothing, really," he said. "I would like to try and get that [his own academy] up and running and help the grass-roots coming through, but you look at the structure out there now and I don't think there's anything, really. "But they know they need to get that in place and they've said that they're going to start building it up. It can only encourage young kids and help Indian kids get involved with football."
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