Indian soccer team arrives in Durban

THE North East United soccer team is visiting KZN for their pre-season tour from 31 August to 22 September.

North East United FC (NEUFC) is an affiliate of the Indian Soccer League, one of the fastest growing football structures globally. Interest in football in India is growing at a tremendous rate, no wonder several European clubs have set base in India. The viewership of 55 million confirms the burgeoning interest in football in India.

This club, apart from local players, has foreign based players, as well as a coach who hails from Venezuela.

In addition to the potential benefit of linking with a football structure from India, there is the sentimental and historic linkages between South Africa, in particular Durban, and India, as the country housed the largest concentration of Indians outside of India.

To date, sporting contact between the two countries has largely been confined to cricket, and attempts to undertake football tours between the countries were stymied by the apartheid government.

The proposed tour by NEUFC will see them based in Durban and the team will undertake their pre-season training in Durban and Pietermaritzburg. Four competitive games have been sanctioned by the South African Football Association, and the first match against Maritzburg United FC will be in Pietermaritzburg on 4 September.

The second game will be against Amazulu on 8 September at the Chatsworth Stadium and the other two fixtures will be against SAFA representative teams.