Indian football lacks professionalism and coordination not only at the club but also state and national levels, according to the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA), the world football governing body.

"After going into the root of the problems affecting the growth of football in the country, I think, there is a serious lack of professionalism on the Indian football scenario. Coordination among different states, too, is absolutely lacking," FIFA Goal development officer Dato Paul Mony Samuel told UNI on the sidelines the 'Indian Football' conference in Delhi on Thursday.

Samuel said there is no dearth of talent in the country. "India and China are the sleeping giants in Asia but proper thrust should be given in the right direction," he said.

Elaborating, he said picking up the talent and gooming them with the help of trained and equipped coaches is the pre-requisite for development of the sport in the country.

"There is talent everywhere...  they should be tapped at a very early age. Clubs seem to have been bogged down with their own problems and are not much bothered about the overall development of the sport in the country," he added.

"I am surprised to see that there is an acute lack of accountability and coordination at the highest place with reagrd to football management in India," Mr Samuel asserted.

Asian Football Confederation director, Technical and Development, Alex Soosay, called for the development of coaches and referees along with the young players in the country.

He said a long term development project, which the AFC along with FIFA has taken up, would primarily focus on the macro development of the sport rather than picking up a handful of talents, which would serve no good.

UNI