Mahindra United Football Club have chosen to withdraw from competitive football starting next season and will not participate in the I-League.
Coming as a major blow to Indian football and in particular to football in Mumbai, the automobile giants have decided to focus their energies on school soccer instead. The group will continue towards developing and nurturing young talent who can then take up the sport professionally. Speaking to Times of India, Mahindra United Football Club’s Chairman Alan Durante said "We realized that we were not contributing much to development of the game in the country by running a football club. In India we have just 300-400 players, who get a chance to play club football at the top level. We will work at grassroots level to increase the pool by investing in school soccer."
The 48 year old club has won every major honour in the country including the National Football League/ I-League, the Federation Cup, the IFA shield and the Durand Cup. The club also has 15 Mumbai top division titles to its name.