Mumbai, Mar 4 (ANI): With less than 99 days to go for the 2010 FIFA World Cup that kicks off in South Africa, ace footballer Bhaichung Bhutia and Bollywood actor John Abraham have joined hands to promote the lively game on a mass scale across the country.

An avid football fan, Abraham, said there is a still long way to go before football is just as popular as cricket in India.

“I just think with football, the system is at fault, the system needs to improve. We need to get a better official system in place to encourage new footballers and for that it’s very important,” said Abraham.

“We can identify football players from the age of 12, 10 and 14 because that’s from where the big footballers really come,” he added.Bhutia agreed, saying the game needs more development.”I think we lack proper development programmes and infrastructure, that’s the key factor. So unless we don’t work seriously on that, it becomes very difficult,” he said.

The duo unveiled plans to give the fans a chance to travel to South Africa with Abraham for the most popular sporting event in the world.Hosts South Africa will face Mexico in the first match of the tournament on June 11 in Johannesburg. (ANI)