Football is one of India's most popular sports, next to cricket. It is a very popular sport in states like West Bengal, Goa, Kerala and the entire North-East India, especially Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Sikkim. Football is played in almost all schools in India.
Having been Asian champions twice, the standard of Indian football has degraded due to a lack of investment and proper planning. While standards of other Asian nations in which football is the most popular sport improved, Indian football was largely neglected in preference to cricket in which the national team is among the top three countries in the world.[1] In September 2006, India and Brazil signed an agreement formalising a scheme to train Indian footballers and coaches.[2]
Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), in the state of West Bengal, is considered to be the home of Indian football. The city contains the three most famous Indian teams, East Bengal Club, Mohammedan Sporting Club (Kolkata), and Mohun Bagan AC. Derbies between these three clubs are popular events in Kolkata. Recently, Goan clubs have been doing well in the I-league with Dempo SC being the most successful club in the history of the league.
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