Mrs. Nita Ambani, Founding Chairperson of Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), identified the development of Indian football as one of the strongest pillars for the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) and added that she is looking forward to many more Indian footballing heroes to emerge from Hero ISL 2019-20.

In her interview during the half-time of the Hero ISL 2019-20 season opener between Kerala Blasters FC and ATK at Kochi, Mrs Ambani said, "I am hoping to have a fantastic season six of Hero ISL. I think one of the strongest pillars of the Hero ISL has been the development of Indian football. For that, we need to see the rise of Indian footballing heroes."

"We have seen the rise of Sandesh Jhingan and Sahal Abdul Samad from Kerala and hopefully, they will be the inspiration for many other boys and girls. Again from season six, I would like to see many more Indian heroes emerge," Mrs Ambani added drawing applause from the crowd at Kochi.

Speaking on the new initiatives which are in the pipeline to further accelerate the growth of the beautiful game in the country, Mrs Ambani stated, "I think Indian women's football is doing so well and with the FIFA U17 Women's World Cup coming to India next year, we are launching the U-17 women's tournament from this year." Also, not to leave our children behind, we are starting the children's league and in three years, we hope, that the children's league will reach out to 40,000 children. These two are the new initiatives we are really looking forward to."

Mrs. Ambani had revealed the two initiatives while addressing the Hero ISL club owners’ meet in Mumbai back in August.

Over 100 girls will participate in a four-team format for the U17 Women’s tournament organised under the aegis of AIFF. With India hosting the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India in October 2020, the Under-17 Women’s Tournament is aimed to provide an opportunity for the players to showcase their talent for selection to the Indian team. The tournament is scheduled in mid-November and will be telecasted live on Star Sports, Hotstar and Jio TV.

The Hero ISL Children’s Leagues will feature over 38,000 children under the 6, 8, 10 and 12-year age groups across 12 states over the next three years. In the first phase, the Children’s Leagues will commence in three states, i.e. West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, covering 15 districts, each having its own league.