Stuart Baxter keen to lure South African footballers to India

Former Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter says that he might be looking at bringing South African players into the Odisha FC set up in India.

The Englishman was unveiled as the new coach of the Indian Super League team earlier this month.

Stuart Baxter keen to lure South African footballers to India

Baxter says that there may be Premier Soccer League players on the wishlist he will submit to club ownership.

In South Africa, Baxter had experience with Supersport United before his high-profile appointments at Chiefs and Bafana. Before coming to South Africa Baxter spent a lot of time in Scandinavia and coached the Finland national team.

Baxter said he would look to offset the inexperience of his squad with players who are known quantities to him.  

“There could be some South African on my hit list,” Baxter told Soccer Laduma.

“If I have got a lot of young players, which is who I will be working with in India, then I need players that I know. So Scandinavians and South Africans will probably be on the list and one or two others that I will recommend. That is the sort of process I will be doing from Sweden before I fly over there when people are allowed to come in.”

Baxter says he doesn’t want to rely on the club owners purse strings and is keen to get stuck in to coaching a team that recently moved their home base.

“The owners have moved the team from Deli to Odisha, which is their home and they really want to do something for their region. And that sounds exciting – I don’t mind doing a bit of coaching rather than get the chequebook out all the time,” added Baxter.

Formerly the Delhi Dynamos, the club moved to Odisha to open up a new base for football in India. The club’s first team, youth teams, youth football development program and grassroots football development program moved Odisha.

They play at the recently upgraded Kalinga Stadium which will be among the venues used during the Fifa Under-17 Women’s World Cup which has been postponed until February 2021.

Their stadium is situated in the heart of Bhubaneswar near Nayapalli area on the Eastern Indian State of Odisha that sits on the Bay of Bengal.

In 2015 Sameehg Doutie became the first South African to play in the Indian Super League and he was followed by former Wits midfielder Sibongakonke Mbatha in 2017.

Former Liverpool and Norway international fullback John Arne Riise spent a brief spell at the Dynamos in 2015.