In a historic moment for Delhi football, the I-League 2022-23 will see a new team enter the fray when Sudeva Delhi FC take the field for the first time in what is among India's oldest football competitions. This is the first team ever to represent the NCR in the I-league.
The team will be coached by Atsushi Nakamura, the first-ever Japanese coach in India. He was joined at the press conference by international players Daniel Cyrus from Trinidad & Tobago, Kosuke Uchida and Tetsuaki Misawa from Japan and Isaac Essel Kwame from Ghana.
"Sudeva is an organization which was started in 2014 by two young entrepreneurs, Anuj Gupta (Solicitor in England) and Vijay Hakari (Environmentalist) sharing a common passion for raising the standards of football training in the country. The organization runs grassroots programs for potential talent, starting from the age of 9 years, right up to the senior level," stated the official press release.
"The organization runs grassroots programs for potential talent, starting from the age of 9 years, right up to the senior level. Along with running a residential academy, we are a 2nd Division I-League club having teams in all I-league categories. In a very short span of time, Sudeva has managed to add quite a few feathers to its cap. In 2016, Sudeva bought Moonlight FC, a Delhi-based senior division club."
"Sudeva Moonlight FC debuted in I-League 2nd Division League in the 2016-17 season. We are the first and up till now the only residential football academy in Delhi-NCR. Our football pitch had been selected as the official Training venue for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, 2017. Two of our boys had also been selected in the U-17 FIFA World Cup India Camp along with numerous others who have been selected in India Camp in the senior and U-18 Category. Senior I-League team along with having a 3rd Division Team based in Xativa, Spain named “CD Olimpic De Xativa”.
The upcoming edition of the I-League will feature 12 teams from across India as the tournament reverts to the usual home and away format after the Coiv-d-19 regulations forced the last two seasons to be played inside a bio bubble in Kolkata.
