Fabio Ferreira on Grassroots, Sreenidi’s Long-Term Project, and Building the Future of Indian Football

As the Indian footballing landscape undergoes a significant transformation, a 33-year-old Portuguese Chief Football Officer is quietly laying the foundation for a new era. Fabio Ferreira, the mastermind at Sreenidi Deccan FC, traded the tactical circuits of Portugal for the untapped grassroots hotspots of India.

“Believe” is one word Fabio had for all the aspiring Indian footballers. With experience in elite coaching in Portugal and the United States, Fabio is committed to finding and developing talent that will benefit the Indian National Football Team. As another season of the newly branded Indian Football League gets underway, Fabio is focused on guiding his Sreenidi side to the top flight, the Indian Super League. Having spent eight years working closely with the Indian grassroots, Fabio offers a great perspective on Indian football.

In the debut episode of our ‘SD Dugout’ series, Fabio didn’t hide his excitement in sharing his tactical insights and grassroots realities. We even managed to tap into the candid side of Fabio.

Here is Fabio Ferreira, unfiltered.

The Portuguese DNA: From Coastal Circuits to Indian Grassroots

When asked what made him choose football in Portugal, Fabio explained how it flows in the DNA of the Portuguese. “It’s a way of life in Portugal. Football in Portugal is what cricket is to India. We start early at a young age, and we keep going,” Fabio added.

Fabio’s passion for the game made him pursue coaching professionally. He holds a UEFA B License from the Portuguese Football Federation. After brief coaching spells in Portugal, he moved to the USA and arrived in India in 2018.

The 120-Month Rule: Architecture of a Consistent Pipeline

Having coached at some of the most organised setups in the world, Fabio was able to identify the gaps in Indian football at the grassroots levels. “The biggest difference I’ve noticed is starting the game when you are young. You start the game at ages 5,6,7 and then train regularly,” he explained.

Noting the importance of consistency, he mentioned, “Consistency is the key. You train for 10 months for 12 years until you turn 18, and then you have 120 months of football and technique in your legs.”

But he reinforced that training alone won’t address the problem, as players need to play games to get experience. “You have to keep playing games to put what you have learned to the test. You play games, and you learn what to do and when to do it on the pitch. With experience, you learn your teammates' games, and you improve.”

Fabio was quick to note the rise of academies in Indian football that are addressing all the shortcomings of the past. “In the past 10 years, we have seen a lot of academies coming up. They offer round-the-year coaching, and India has a lot of good coaches. With constant training and exposure, the talents will thrive in the future.”

Weathering the Storm: Stability and Commitment Amidst Uncertainty

Indian football was full of uncertainty when September 2025 arrived. The new season was nowhere close. The top-flight, the second division, and the entire football pyramid were in jeopardy. But Sreenidi did not panic, and the business went on as usual, thanks to the vision of the club under Fabio.

"So when we talk about Sreenidi, we cannot just look at the first team; the foundations of the club are based on grassroots programs. Our grassroots program runs 11 months a year, so the club was working and functioning smoothly throughout this period. It took some time to find a way forward, but thankfully, all the stakeholders were able to come to a point where now we are ready to start."

When asked what the effect was on the preparations of the first team, he added, "We usually start the pre-season in August or September; this time we started in November. We were in touch with the players more from the conditioning point of view. We were wondering, ‘What is the daily routine?’ ‘How can they try? (to keep the calories in check)’.

"So that's what we did, and then in November, there were discussions of the possibility of starting the league in December. Which then, as you know, got delayed till now. But you know, when you have people with you, players, staff, and we as a club, we kept our commitments. Obviously, we face challenges like everyone else, but the people were also committed to the project,” he added while praising the club’s commitment towards the game. At a time when a few top-flight clubs suspended training, Sreenidi continued their camp, assuring the players and the staff.

"And now recently, obviously with the news of the league starting, the motivation level will go high, and at the end, I think we ended up having a good preseason,” concluded Fabio.

Sustainable Ambition: The Long-Term Pursuit of the Top Flight

Fabio was fairly confident of Sreenidi’s chances in the IFL this season, but he mentioned that it was a project with the club and not about the next season immediately. Sustainable growth through commitment was his long-term vision.

"So we see Sreenidi as a project. We don't only look at it season by season, and as a club, the vision, even from the ownership level, obviously, we want to represent Hyderabad and Telangana at the top level because that's where they deserve to be, and we want to do it for the long term in a sustainable manner. That is our main motto. It's difficult when we look at the football ecosystem in India, but we believe it is possible through our hard work and our commitment towards football.”

But he was also quick to recollect their previous seasons and wanted a clear improvement in the league.”This is going to be our 6th season in the league. The first one, we didn’t play well, and then we finished third, and in the two consecutive seasons we finished second place. Last year, as it happens in sports, we didn't do so well.”

The turbulent previous season prompted Sreenidi to bring in their former boss Carlos Vaz Pinto, who left after achieving back-to-back runner-up finishes.
“Now this year we are back with a competitive team, which we believe will be able to put us competing at the top, but then you know, at the end is when we need to do the math and see if it is enough or not. I'm sure it'll be closer to being successful towards our goals rather than if you focus on outside things that you cannot control. We are excited, we are confident, obviously, but humble at the same time. We have some good players, and we have a good coach, and we have a good structure. We need to go there and show that on the pitch. That's what we expect from them.”

Feeding the Ecosystem: The Reserve-to-Pro Graduation Model

In line with the grassroots policy of the club, Fabio revealed how the club focused on developing talents who could perform for clubs and the national team and have a satisfactory professional career.

“Our big vision is to identify talent, provide them the right platform, develop them, and make sure they can represent our first team, representing national teams, and then very soon, any player coming out from our reserve team should be playing in the national leagues. Once they complete the stages of development, they can go and play for other professional teams."

"That means that from a youth development perspective, we are doing a good job and we are helping the ecosystem because whatever talents that come out of our academy, some of them might be in ISL, some in the IFL, but they are playing at a professional level. They are not stopping, which means that they have some quality, they have some talent, and the work that was done was positive," Fabio added while emphasizing how they prioritised the holistic growth of a player and the ecosystem.

Satisfied about Sreenidi’s grassroots program bearing fruit, Fabio shared his thoughts. “When you look at our team, we have three players with us. Adhil(Faizal), Deepak(DP), and Embok (Emboklang Nongkhlaw) were integrated last year. They came from our reserve team to our first team. This is a good indicator that the work has been done at the grassroots level. I'm happy that in the last few years we got these three, and we have a few more plays in the pipeline that might come very soon.”

Plugging the Leaks: Maintaining Performance Across Age Groups

When quizzed, why do the promising talent from academies often struggle at the senior level? Fabio offered his insights.
“So now, on the countries that are performing at the top level consistently for the past 15 years, and their U15s and the U17s and the U21s do great. So whoever is coming out of the pipeline, the level at the top will not be affected. If our under-17s perform well in one year, then there are three years they do not perform so well, it takes a hit. So first we need to be consistent and ensure you know if our under-17s can perform at a good level, then that pipeline of players keeps growing, and they will feed up the senior team. Then, if you have 10 consecutive years playing from the age of 20 to 30 years, we should be able to select a good pool of players to perform."

With a simple example of how the constant youth system feeds the senior teams, Fabio underlined the importance of consistency and backing youth to ensure talent is not lost.

“We are implementing it, I can assure you it's a day-by-day process," Fabio offered great hope for the future.

Restoring the Deccan Flame: In Search of a Homegrown Hero

To tap into the rich footballing legacy of Hyderabad that has been dormant for a while, Fabio understands the importance of finding the right audience and resonating with them.

“Its important to understand who watches football in Hyderabad, who is playing football in Hyderabad. Those are probably your loyal fans if you can get to them, get them to buy a season pass, but if they know that they might come up to see some good football, some good matches. They might also get engaged with you at a certain level, and you know, with the local football culture, it takes time.”

Fabio understood the importance of having a local homegrown hero who could bring that revolution to the city. “Hyderabad has a huge legacy on it which we respect, and we want to bring that back.

At least start seeing some Telugu boys going and playing for the international team, but that process is a very long-term process because you need to identify the talent, which we are doing now, and we need 10 years to work with them. Once that happens again, we'll be one step closer to the people of the city, to the people of that region.

Sreenidi Deccan remains the only professional football club in Hyderabad. Following Hyderabad FC’s rebranding and move to Delhi as SC Delhi, the city that produced legends like Syed Abdul Rahim, Shabbir Ali, and Peter Thangaraj has no representation in the top-flight, Indian Super League. Sreenidi can fill that void and become the go-to club of Hyderabad if they can reach the ISL and unearth the next superstar through Fabio’s grassroots project.

The Power of ‘Believe’: Embracing Failure as a Catalyst for Growth

It is an exciting period for Indian football. Moreso for aspiring footballers. With the evergrowing infrastructure and visionaries like Fabio overseeing the transition, they can have the best exposure. But Fabio has a simple success mantra for all the young and talented stars.
“Believe,” it was the most powerful mantra Fabio had for any kid that is running around with a ball. “It's important to believe in what you really want, believe you can do it.”

He also urged the prodigies not to be afraid of failure. “You will probably fail many times, but failure is also part of the process of growing, so because you fail sometimes does not mean that you are going to fail tomorrow. So believe in yourself, don't give up, and then also it's important to give things balance."

Noting how setbacks are common in the game, he added, "Sometimes it's not always fair, and when a bad injury comes, it can be difficult for you. But believe this: work hard and be disciplined, be perseverant and resilient, accept the failure, and find ways to overcome it tomorrow. I think that's how everyone grows, not only in football but everything in life, and I mean for sure that that will help you to reach your goals," Fabio summed up wonderfully.

The Factory of Talent: Chasing a Fairytale Finish for CR7

Fabio had no shortage of heroes growing up in Portugal. But two stood out in particular for him.
“When it comes to legends, when I started watching football, we can say Luis Figo. It was a very big name in Portugal. Then obviously Cristiano Ronaldo came, and Ronaldo was the star, the hero for many, many generations. What he was able to do with consistency was inspire a lot of kids to follow his discipline and to believe that anyone can achieve things when they are hard workers.”

The upcoming FIFA World Cup could be the last one for Ronaldo and Fabio, just like every other Portuguese, who had only one dream.“We always have a lot of expectations because we have good players. Portugal is known as a factory of talent. I believe we are going to be competitive. But then, when it comes to the World Cup, it's also a tournament that happens at the end of the season. It's important to understand how many matches our players have on their legs. But all the small factors, all the small details will matter. I'm sure one of the best Portuguese players, Ronaldo’s going to contribute positively to the team as he has always been doing, and hopefully he can leave with a title, which will be amazing for him and amazing for us."