Heartwarming to see response that ISL received: Nita Ambani

KOLKATA: Terming the response of the first edition of Hero Indian Super League as "heartwarming", founder and chairperson of Football Sports Development Limited Nita Ambani today said that their objective is to make the Indian football the winner.

"It's just so wonderful to see the response that ISL has received, and football has received more than anything else," Ambani told reporters ahead of the Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) and FC Goa's first leg semi-final at the Salt Lake Stadium here.

"Fans have come out in huge numbers, not only in stadiums but also in the social media to support this game. It's been really heartwarming. I came here during the gala opening, now I've come back for the semi-final," said Ambani.

Ambani further said that she wants to ensure that ISL grows from strength to strength in coming years.

"This is just the beginning. We want to better ourselves year after year and see that football wins in the end."

With her home city Mumbai all set to host the summit clash of the first edition on October 20, Ambani said that they do not want to leave any stone unturned to make it all the more successful.

"This being the first year, every day has been a learning for us. We want to see that the final is conducted in a good way so that the both the teams can play in a best possible way."

Highlighting the recently launched grassroots development programme, she said: "We have launched the grass roots programme last Sunday. We aim that the beginning of the next season we hope to reach out to half a million children."

"The Reliance Foundation will then take the top talents and fund them via scholarships for their education and for the football development," she added.