Sunil Chhetri, the 37-year-old India captain, has enrolled himself in the prestigious ISDE Law Business School to study global masters in sports management and legal skills.

The online one-year course started last month and on completion Chhetri, international football’s third-highest active scorer after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, will get a postgraduate degree.

The course fee is 15000 euros but Chhetri has got a 100 per cent scholarship. ISDE, which works in tandem with Spanish giants FC Barcelona, has a tie-up with FIFPRO, the worldwide representative organisation for professional footballers. Chhetri had sent his application and CV through FIFPRO’s Indian arm, Football Players Association of India, of which he is a vice-president.

“Sunil had an illustrious career of more than two decades. It was time for him to look to the future also. A degree in sports management and legal skills will definitely help him in his future endeavours,” a source told The Telegraph.

“With a packed calendar every season, Sunil hardly had breathing space. But the nationwide lockdown gave him time to ponder over his future,” the source added.

Management in football is evolving everyday. Unless a player does higher studies from a reputed business school, it’s not possible to make a name as an administrator.

For example, legendary goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, Bayern Munich’s chief executive officer, had some years ago enrolled in the general management programme with a minor in sports management at a private university in Germany. He graduated with an MBA degree.

Former Belgium and Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany and Italy captain Giorgio Chiellini are pursuing higher studies. Former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia did a course in sports management from a university abroad.

Some of the options for Chhetri are: management of sports organisations, law offices, sports agent, sports consulting, federations, leagues, clubs and associations.