Shillong, Sep 20: The Meghalaya government has allotted 15 acres of land for a NorthEast United FC residential academy in Mawkhanu on the outskirts of Shillong.
The land has yet to be formally handed over to the Indian Super League club but that will probably happen by January or February next year.
NEUFC CEO Mandar Tamhane said yesterday that the land in question needs to be levelled as it is quite undulating at present. Once this is done, the club will take over the property and proceed to construct the academy, which itself will take around two years to complete.
The CEO also gushed that in all his years in football he has not come across a state government that has been willing to do so much for a club as Meghalaya’s.
It was announced in March during a visit by club owner John Abraham that the state government had agreed to hand over the land to NorthEast United for a “state of the art” academy.
The Highlanders had also previously had tie-ups with two local clubs in the past. Abraham and the owners of Shillong Lajong FC jointly made the initial foray into the ISL in 2014 but the latter pulled out around a year later. NEUFC then did a deal in 2017 with Shillong United FC for youth football development but the local club folded the following year.
NorthEast United have been sponsored by the Meghalaya Tourism brand for several seasons now.
Tamhane also said that the JN Stadium in Polo could host two or three ISL 2024-25 matches in December or after that if a few adjustments are made to the stadium, as per requirements of the ISL organisers.
(Photo: NorthEast United FC/Facebook)
