Despite claims to the contrary, professionalism in Indian football is still a distant dream, as only six clubs in the country satisfy the guidelines proposed by the Asian Football Confederation.
"There has only been a little progress in clubs fulfilling the proposals of the Asian Football Confederation. Only six of them have satisfied them so far," All India Football Federation president Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi admitted in Delhi on Tuesday.
He, however, did not name the clubs that meet the guidelines, which include having its own ground, a professionally qualified coach and professional set-up.
The AFC had recommended clubs turning professional in order to improve the standard of the game. It had suggested earlier this year that after a certain grace period, only professional clubs should be allowed to take part in the National Football League.
But Dasmunshi said it would be some time before the NFL becomes a completely professional affair.
"If everything goes according to plan, we can turn fully professional from the end of 2007," he told reporters.
The changes were felt necessary after last year's league was badly affected following Fransa Pax withdrawing after alleging 'poor and biased' refereeing. The withdrawal prompted several changes in the NFL schedule.
The frequent changes also hit the official sponsors and broadcasters of the league.
Dasmunshi, who is also Minister for Information and Broadcasting as well as Parliamentary Affairs, was speaking on the eve of the final of the Delhi Schools League, which pitted 48 teams from across the city at 28 venues.
It is a part of the AFC's Vision India programme, which runs two pilot projects in Delhi and Manipur.
"If we strengthen football at the grassroots, we can have good sides at the Under-16 and Under-19 levels, which provide players for the senior sides," Dasmunshi said.
There was a plan to extend the Vision India programme to other centres in the country and Sikkim had been marked as one of these places.
"Centres such as Kolkata and Goa have all the required infrastructure. We need to support regions which have a passion for the game but are short on resources," the AIFF chief said.