Sundara Ramam said on Tuesday (August 4, 2026).
Jamshedpur FC’s (JFC) withdrawal from the upcoming Indian Super League season was a long-planned strategic decision to return to grassroots football development and had “nothing to do” with the uncertainty surrounding the league’s commercial future, Tata Steel Vice-President (Corporate Services) D.B.
Outlook
On Tata Football Academy’s legacy, he said, “We started the Tata Football Academy in 1987. Since then, we have trained around 275 cadets, over 150 have represented India and 26 have captained the national team at various age groups. The development, which came few months after uncertainty over the ISL’s future following the expiry of the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and Football Sports Development Ltd (FSDL), marked the end of their nine-year top-flight run. “The current decision has nothing to do with whatever changes have happened in the last one year. “It was a well thought-through and calculated move.
However, Sundara Ramam said the club had been deliberating over its future for quite some time and would have exited the league even if the previous long-term commercial arrangement had continued. Our decision has been independent of that,” Sundara Ramam told PTI in an exclusive interview. He said Tata Steel had begun reviewing its football strategy last year before deciding that the company should return to its traditional role of identifying and nurturing young talent. We should work where we have strength — connecting with the community, nurturing young talent and preparing them to play at higher levels,” he said. The senior Tata Steel official said the decision was approved after a two-tier process involving the club’s management and Tata Steel’s board.
