The Indian Prime Minister talked about the importance of popularizing the beautiful game in India...

Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi urged the nation to help promote football in India although he did admit that their current ranking of 160 is lowly.

"India had a good run in football earlier but that is not the case now. Our rankings are also very low," he noted before going on to stress how the 2017 U-17 World Cup has to be seen as a major landmark in popularizing the game.

"India is going to host under-17 FIFA World Cup in 2017. It is an opportunity for us to instil our youth with passion of football. I believe that FIFA Under-17 World Cup is a big chance for us to present brand of India on global level," he further added in his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' radio programme.

The former Gujarat Chief Minister also opined that the game has to be taken to every village of the nation, given the increasing popularity of European football leagues.

"I see that our youth is enjoying football like EPL (English Premier League). Its important to take football to every village and FIFA U-17 is a great opportunity. I would like every youth of the country to become ambassador of 2017 FIFA Under- 17 World Cup," he remarked.