Shedding Doubts about India’s Calibre in Football and ISL

Oct 11, 2014 Tushita Sports 0

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Once upon a time, Keith Cooper, former FIFA Communications Director had called the Indian football and the players, ‘sleeping giants’. He also indicated at the ‘giant’s’ responses to awakenings and how these attempts at rousing the giant cool down almost as quickly as they heat up; before they can have any transcending effect on the regional frontiers.

What has been holding Indian football back until now?

The gravity of the argument is justified by the fact that Costa Rica – a country that is home to 10% unemployed and 20% below poverty line population, successfully qualified to the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup. Some other nations like Croatia, Ghana, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Chile are a few examples that solidify the statement further.

The question that arises naturally here is that what has been keeping India all along, from making the kind of name that it has in other sports. If it is for the infrastructural issues, then don’t we have every huge corporate that one can think of, investing superfluous amounts of money in cricket and IPL?

The Indian Super League, ISL, is coming up with solutions in this regard, as there are huge names and fames involved and big cash prizes announced. For all we have, the Indian stadiums have already started getting facelifts.

With all the media frenzy, the ISL is attracting just the right kind of global attention and players to the league.

Cricket being India’s forte, football needed such attention more than the former. Especially after India performed badly at the Asian Games in the sport, it got proven that the players and the sport itself requires attention and polishing.

How about the loopholes that such initiatives have had in the past?

Before the conception of ISL, other efforts in the past were too that were applied to the cause. The Tata Football Academy is a lucrative example of such efforts. It kicked off with a lot of popularity and fetched good players into the national football team. Projects even brought clubs as huge as PSV Eindhoven, etc. to the game and generated a wave of interest in the Indian football.

Then, in 1996 there began the National League (I-league), which raised hopes about football advancing towards gaining the much deserved positive enthusiasm. But the publicity, marketing, organisation and sponsorship are some areas that still lack the momentum that is required in the first place to achieve the envisioned goals.

What is about ISL then that we should tie our hopes with?

For starters, ISL boasts of a good interplay of commerce and vision. Seeing the Indian players attain training in Europe and renowned players and coaches like David James, Zico, Nikolas Anelka, Robert Pires, Del Piero and likes practice alongside Indian players, in itself is a shot in the arm for us.

For those sceptical about the football craze going beyond the traditional fanfare of Kolkata, Mumbai, Goa and Kerala, is it really necessary for a sport to calculate its popularity and development in terms of geography? No, it isn’t, otherwise cricket would have been just as popular in the North East as the rest of the country. Also, the size of all these states together is much larger than that of Costa Rica, etc. We just need the will to increase our potential.

How is really going to make a difference?

The benefits and the financial infusion if reaches the grass root-level game, it can completely change the face of domestic football. The fans being fans, will come out and spend the money on tickets to watch the same matches that are otherwise telecasted on TV, and this is not just an assumption. If the curious Indian spectators can make it to gymnastics, etc., in commonwealth games, in scorching heat of Delhi’s summers, then the ISL has nothing to worry about seat occupancy in the stadiums.

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• Indian football team, Indian Sports, ISL

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