Shyam Thapa, the chairman of the North Bengal Board for Development of Sports and Games, said on Tuesday that it had plans to set up a residential football academy in Siliguri.

The former Indian soccer star and technical head of the Tata Football Academy of Jamshedpur was here for the first time after he took charge of the sports board.

“Siliguri has a wonderful stadium and there are a lot of talents in the surrounding areas. They need to be nurtured properly. We can use the infrastructure here by setting up a residential football academy so that the budding footballers can be provided with proper training. Once I return to Calcutta, I will submit the proposal for the academy to sports minister,” said Thapa.

He visited the Kanchenjungha Stadium here on Tuesday afternoon, accompanied by the board’s vice-chairman Nantu Paul and assistant general secretary of the Siliguri Mahakuma Krira Parishad Aup Bose among others.

Paul, who is also the working president of the SMKP, submitted a proposal to Thapa for taking necessary initiative to renovate the stadium.

Paul also urged Thapa to take steps for the promotion of young talents in different sports in north Bengal.

“There are many promising footballers in the hills and tea gardens but they lack a proper platform to showcase their talents. If we can have an academy here, it will definitely help them improve their skills. We have handed him (Thapa) a list of proposals for overall renovation of the stadium. He has also been asked to look into the proposal for developing infrastructure for athletics and proper use of the unutilised area of the Sports Authority of India on the stadium premises,” Paul said.