KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has pledged one million dollars a year over the next four years to help lift the sport out of its current dire straits in cricket-mad India.

In making the announcement, AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam urged state governments in India and the corporate world to get behind the development of football.

"This money is to support clubs and the league. This is not a donation but we would like to see how it supports your clubs and leagues," he said.

"I am expecting support of the state governments and also of the corporate world for the development of football in India."

India, one of the most populous nations in the world, is currently ranked 165th in the world and 34th in Asia.

Bin Hammam was in India earlier this week alongside FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who urged the country to embrace football and improve the sport's infrastructure in order to compete with other nations in the region.

The AFC president was critical of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), which is headed by federal minister Priyaranjan Das Munshi, during the visit.

"With the existing structure, don't think of progress even in the next 100 years," he said Monday in New Delhi.

Bhaichung Bhutia, the only Indian to play professional football in England -- he spent three years with third-division Bury -- blamed a lack of planning for the current state of the sport.

"We have no infrastructure at all at the grassroots level," he said recently. "There is no system in this country to encourage young boys to play football. There is no professionalism."