Chelsea are targeting the Asian community as
they look to unearth a new crop of potential Premier League
stars.
The BBC Asian Network understands the club will announce a
special coaching project in the next few weeks.
There are seven UK-born Asians playing in England's top four
divisions, with none at the highest level after Michael Chopra left
Sunderland for Cardiff.
QPR's Zesh Rehman, the only Asian to have played in all four
divisions, says the current figures are "shocking". <!-- E SF
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"I think it's shocking to be perfectly honest. Seven out of 92
league clubs is alarming," said defender Rehman, who is on loan at
Bradford City.
"I think the first report about Asians in football came out
about 10 years ago. So in 10 years to only have seven Asian players
come through is still not enough.
"You can't tell me that Asian kids don't love football because
they do.
"Anything that's going to help encourage them to get into the
game or believe they have part in it is great."
The five other Asians plying their trade in the top four
divisions are: Aman Verma (Leicester City); Anwar Uddin (Dagenham);
Adnan Ahmed (Port Vale); Rikki Baines (Macclesfield Town) and Netan
Sansara (Walsall).
Chelsea have two British Asian players at their academy, with
Nikki Ahamed, 17, who was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and grew up
in Wembley, having been at the club since he was 10 years old.
Bobby Barnes, the assistant chief executive of the Professional
Footballers' Association, believes Chelsea will embrace social and
business opportunities with the initiative.
"Chelsea are a business and a very successful football club. I
think they have looked at not only the social reason but also
looked at the marketing opportunities of this and realised there is
a massive football-loving Asian market to be tapped into," he
stated.