Bhaichung to play for USFC in club’s second-division I-League debut

Bhaichung holds up his USFC jersey flanked by club's senior manager, Arjun Rai,
and Renedy Singh

TEAM INDIA COLLEAGUES RENEDY AND NS MANJU TO PLAY ALONGSIDE!
SAGAR CHHETRI
GANGTOK, 17 Feb: Bhaichung Bhutia is all set to revive true football and sporting spirit in Sikkim, a task he hopes to achieve through his club- the United Sikkim Football Club’s [which has him as Director] debut in second division I-League. Not only will he be wearing the USFC jersey himself and playing for the Club this season, he has also roped in two team-mates from Team India [Renedy Singh and NS Manju] to play alongside him.
Bhaichung was speaking at a press conference today on the USFC’s entry into the second division of I-League, which is scheduled to start in the last week of March.
It was informed that the club has signed 30 players, who are presently undergoing thorough training in Kolkata under coach Stanley Rozario to debut strong in the I-League.
The team will be led by Renedy Singh as captain leading four foreign players, nine players from the north-east region and 11 from Sikkim including Bhaichung, one from Darjeeling and the rest from the different parts of the country.
Bhaichung shared that the club is aiming to qualify for the first division of the I-League within 3 years, although, he added, the club is confident to qualify in its first attempt this season itself.
It was also informed that Nike has sponsored the club this year.
He also thanked the national players for joining the club by overlooking bigger offers from other clubs.
He also mentioned that the club had almost also signed Sunil Chettri as well, but could not, due to unavoidable circumstances.
Bhaichung shared that the objective of the USFC is to revive the love for football and sports in the state so that the local people did not only talk about the football and games, but also participated more in sporting activities.
“We aim to promote football in the entire north-eastern region as brand ambassadors based in Sikkim and north-eastern region,” he stressed. The club will be trained by four experienced coaches and has many more big surprises in store for the people in coming days, Bhaichung shared.
He also informed that he plans to stay in Sikkim more permanently from June onwards.
The Indian captain mentioned that he has met the Chief Minister, who has given a positive response to his proposal to start a football academy in Sikkim and even provided the required land in south district.
“We have requested the Chief Minster to provide land at Pakyong or Ranipool for the academy instead and he has given a positive response and has asked us to prepare a proposal for the same and assured to provide all possible help”, he said.
He mentioned that the club will be working in consultation with the Sikkim Football Association and the Department of Sports & Youth Affairs for the development of football and the sports in general in Sikkim.
Renedy Singh, who has been signed for four months, stated that the club has huge potential and now needs the support of the local people.
Senior Manager of the club, Arjun Rai, in turn mentioned that after much hard work, the club has finally secured entry into the second division of the I-League by fulfilling all the criteria and is confident of performing well in the upcoming tournament.
The club has also planned to play few warm up matches before leaving for the tournament.
The second division I-league has a total of 21 teams from around the country, two of whom will qualify for the main I-League scheduled to start in October this year.