Aizawl, March 3: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) commissioner for the recent junior national (under-19) football tournament here, Ghayasul Haque, made a case for professionalism in the game to make a mark in the international arena.

Indian football would never make it to the World Cup, the Olympics or any other top-class Fifa tournaments without professionalism in the domestic set-up, he said.

?Until players make a decent living out of football and money starts pouring in like any other professional sport, I don?t see any hope of India hitting big time in the international arena. If multinational companies can promote cricket in a big way, I don?t know why they can?t do the same for football.?

He said the region has always been a storehouse of football talent, but Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh must participate more in regional and national tournaments to give exposure to their players.

He praised the organisers, Mizoram Football Association, for successfully hosting the junior nationals for the B.C. Roy Trophy, which was lifted by Jharkhand on Monday with a narrow 2-1 victory over Manipur in the final.

Haque said: ?Having criss-crossed the country on tournament duty as an AIFF official, I can conclude that accommodation of the players and officials here was superb. The ground, though not the best, is good enough to hold a national tournament. I thank the organisers.?