Indian women's football needs structural and cultural reforms: Aditi Chauhan

New Delhi, Sep 7 (PTI) India's trailblazing former goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan has called for urgent structural and cultural reforms in women's football, without which the country's talented players may not be able to reach their full potential and excel on the big stage.

Chauhan recently announced her retirement from the game after a career spanning 17 years during which she became the first Indian woman to play professional football in Europe.

"From the experiences that I had growing up in India, trying to pursue football long term, and the experiences that I've had in UK, playing for West Ham, getting an understanding of the structure, the kind of leagues, the kind of teams and tiers of competitions that exist in UK, I realised that that is actually the reason why UK, in the last 10-15 years, has completely transitioned from a team that was just competing to now competing for the top three sports or actually the World Cup and Olympics," she told PTI Videos.

Chauhan said she is committed to developing the next generation of players through her initiative, the SheKicks Football League.

She emphasised that cultural and structural support are both critical to the sport's growth in India.

"I think, in my opinion, there are two things. Media definitely plays a huge role in terms of creating role models, bringing that awareness to the parents. Because we have to understand that in India, with the culture that we have, parents still are the ones who take that decision for the kids.

"If they want to pursue, no matter if they're interested, but if the decision to let them pursue or encourage them to pursue a sport, it comes from the parents. So, you need to bring that awareness to the parents that there are professional opportunities available, you can make a career out of it.

"Not just as a player, but there are so many avenues within the sports industry that you can be part of and still contribute in the development of the game. So, I think that is one thing.

"The other thing is the structures. Having corporates, having people with huge resources, bigger resources, to come together and help people who are trying to do something on the ground.

"That's something that we also faced a challenge in. Trying to get sponsors, trying to get people who have the resources, who can make this a bigger tournament or league. But we have to start somewhere. We're happy with the partners that we have. It's great that they align with the vision," she said.

India has qualified for the next AFC Women's Asian Cup, and Chauhan offered a realistic take on the road ahead.

"Fans can realistically expect a tough competition. It's not going to be easy, as it was in the qualifiers that we played. This is going to be a real competition.

"Playing teams like Japan, Chinese Taipei, Vietnam, it's not going to be easy. They also qualified to reach there. We need to have a lot more matches, game experiences, friendlies, participating in tournaments." PTI SG SG AH AH