As many of you guys have requested, to highlight the issues that Indian Football faces, this post will mainly focus on the problems with an overview at the possible solutions. [I will call it an overview coz, if they really were the solutions to our problems, then I wouldn’t be writing this Post in the first place! ;-) ;-)]
It would be really unfair if I had to single out one particular reason for the sorry state of Indian Football – it is rather an amalgamation of them. To focus on the problems, I would highlight what it takes to play good football as a nation. To develop football, you need the following:-
- Passion for the Game
- Good Infrastructure
- A Professional Club System
- Support from the Government
In Indian Football, we will just find the 1st Point above and none of the remaining.
As a nation, our love for Football can’t be discounted. We had a golden history once upon a time, but of course no point always resting on our past laurels. FIFA acknowledged our passion when we had the second highest viewership during the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany; and of course no wonder all the “Big Clubs of the World” are making a beeline to India coz they know very well how much we love the game.
Aaaaaaaaaaah – the same old topic of Infrastructure; Phew!!! Anyway, I have to talk about it. In one of the earlier posts I had mentioned about the types of Infrastructure we need dividing it into Masonic and Non Masonic. When it comes to Masonic, there is no doubt we are miles away from even calling it decent. We don’t have a single playing field that we can provide our National Team to play on, leave aside the question of a Stadium. The National Team has to travel to Dubai and Barcelona to prepare for the Nehru Cup. This is the sorry state of affairs when it comes to Masonic Infrastructure. Coming to Non – Masonic Infrastructure, we are fairly better off compared to many nations. We have some good coaches, who carry the AFC “C” license with them. And the AIFF conducts over 20 programs for coaches throughout the year in the "A", "B" and "C" AFC License categories. But yes, surely this is not enough and more needs to be done; we need “A” and “B” licensed coaches; we need proper support systems for them in terms of team officials and of course much better programs to groom referees.
The success of any National Team can be accounted by the Club System it has in place. A professional and responsible Club System can solve all the problems related to football in India but alas, it is our biggest bane. None of the I – league clubs could fulfil the criteria set out by the AFC to participate in the AFC Champions league this year!!! Most of the clubs don’t have Physiotherapists, Doctors, Trainers, Goal Keeping coaches, etc and to top it all, they don’t have a playing surface of their own!!!! Some of them go back to their 100 year old history and boast about being the oldest clubs in Asia or in the World and looking at their attitude, they would like to remain the same in terms of their Infrastructure. We have few promising clubs, but surely that is not enough. Buying foreign players and winning the League is of no use – it does more damage to the club more than Indian Football.
Support from the National Government – it’s like one of those pleasant dreams that you had and when you wake up the next morning you have a smirk across your face. The Government recently “promoted” the game of Football to a priority sport – can you imagine that?? What support can you expect from a Government which had to elevate the status of the sport only till recent times? What support can you expect when the Minister of Sports makes a comment that the Indian National Team can lose to any school team from Australia? Is that leadership? Is that a motivation for any of the players of the National Team? What kind of an example is that? And what you get in return is the cancellation of funds allotted for Football when anyone raises voice against that very statement? Anyway, moving forward, we in India have only the 2nd and 3rd point to work on and the 4th one is as good as it being not there.
Summarizing the possible solutions (coz if I start writing about them – it will occupy 3 or 4 posts of mine to put the text down), India needs a professional Club System to solve all its problems. The FA in England doesn’t own a single stadium or a playing field or any academy – all the Stadiums that we see in the Premiership have been built by the Clubs or if you take the case of Wembley; it belongs to the government there. If our clubs get serious about their Football, then we can have 14 Stadiums or playing surfaces without a hitch; we will have better officials to support their managers and coaches. This will translate to an increase in the viewership of the game, better standard of Football and more corporate attraction thereby revolutionising the game in the country. We can in fact hold the FIFA World Cup, if each club has a stadium of its own!!!!
Guys, I will end it here as I can go on and on; but this was just a glance at the issues that we face with just a paragraph at the possible solution. I will come up with a detailed post on Club Football in India within a week’s time – till then “Love the Game”!! J J
6 comments:
well... what you've said just shows the plight of indian football.. and while what you've said about infrastructure is true.. it seems like a vicious circle.. currently i do not think that there is enough money put in clubs for them to have good stadiums which in turn means that promising players don't get the infrastructure they deserve... and so on.. i guess indian football needs something big which can turn this around.. something on the lines of IPL maybe? something will get football into the mainstream...
@Whacko
well clubs do have the money mate....their annual budgets are near about the IPL teams!!! A Team like East Bengal has a budget near about 6 Crores!!!! But all they do is spend money on Players and not on other important stuff like Infrastructure.....if we have good Infrastructure, then even not so good players can perform well and get you the results.
About IPL...that is not what any sport would want...it has rather done more damage to cricket and moreover its a commercial thing....a money making venture....but yes, we need to bring Football to the People but not the IPL way....wait till August and you will see the beginning....but what I can say is there is tremendous, mind you really tremendous interest among the corporates towards Indian Football and I was taken aback when I saw this....but have patience....the base will be created for Take Off!! ;-)
come on dude u can not comment on IPL in this way.. yup i admit its commercial(more commercial) but do not neglect the players out there(not the pietersons and gilckrists) but the guys from nowhere who are stars now and have a good life of there own with money that can help them to build there infrastructure that comprises of house, car this and that.. wats wron if IPL is commercial and a money making business.. irts helping the players and the ones who have been bought for big bucks.. if they dont prform well they are gonna kiked out and replaced by some other guy so its a bit more professional too .. you know dont perform kickk out theory.. plz do not comment about IPL i request you :) have great day and good read
@Tonmoy
Good atleast you agreed it is commercial!! :-)
Well,my point was Football can't go the IPL way and before we call it "IPL way", I think IPL has itself adopted most of its approach from Football in Europe and USA. But, football can't go the IPL way. We are not talking about Infrastructure issues for individual players but for the game!! What has the IPL done to Indian Cricket? Has it built infrastructure??? Has it built a Good Cricket Team??? Instead we just go the result in the World T20 and Mr. Kirsten has rightly spoken about the reason for that!!! Moreover your playing a 3 hour match which is no less than a movie!!!! Its just the desert....which is sweetening....the main course still is Test Cricket...my point is we cant deviate from the basics and Football will never be!!!
Anyway, rather than discussing about IPL, would like to discuss other issues related to Footballing Infrastructure and to develop the game....but Bottom line, to DEVELOP Football, we can't afford to be commercial!!!!
Great article. I have been searching for sometime about football in India. I live in the UK and represented England U18's. My farther was born in Punjab making me eligible to play for India. I would love to have a trial of some sort but have no idea of who to contact etc?
Any help would be great, keep up the good work!
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