Can Football be India's next big thing?(by BBC)

When Sunil Chhetri signed for the Kansas City Wizards in April, he became the first Indian in Major League Soccer, and only the third to play in a professional league overseas.

India boasts the best cricket team in the world, has successful golf and tennis players and now competes in Formula One, yet the national football side is ranked 132nd in the world, sandwiched between Swaziland and Sierra Leone.

World Football asks why India, a country with a population of 1.2 billion people is unable to produce more talented footballers?

BBC football reporter Sean Wheelock asked Chhetri why this is - and why more players don't travel abroad.

Meanwhile, the President of the Asian Football confederation has admitted that the domestic game in India needs to improve.

Mohammad Bin Hammam called for club owners to "accelerate steps to professionalise the game".

Rahul Tandon reports on the Indian football scene from Kolkata, which is considered to be the home of football in the country - with India's two biggest clubs located in the city.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/sport/2010/04/100430_world_football_indian_footy.shtml