Football is a world sport. It touches more than half the human life on earth in some way or the other.
We Indians suck at football. We recently dropped another 5 positions on the FIFA rankings (I had no idea there were 5 more positions below us) to 172. At least now, there can't be too many more positions left below us to fall to.
How and why are we so bad? These questions have been discussed and dissected by all the 253 people in India who care about the sport and the answer seems to be anywhere from 'climatic conditions dont suit football' to 'there's no infrastructure' to 'we're too short to compete with the Europeans' to 'Cricket has killed every other sport' to a plethora of other reasons. While I also agree that there is some truth to all those factors, they can be easily countered by giving various examples from all over the world where those factors haven't really been able to hold back the development of the beautiful game.
In this article, I'm not going to discuss these reasons or give more reasons of my own. I'm going to discuss a possible solution to improving the condition of the game. I'm going to discuss what all could be done and should be done and more importantly, what all is already being done. More specifically, one Hero which has emerged on the scene, a Hero that we don't deserve but a Hero that we all need.
The Hero is...............Hero Indian Super League!
Yes, the glitzy, shiny new cousin of our very own poor Ramu Kaka of football leagues, the I-League (don't be fooled by the 'I', it wasn't made in China by Apple). But it looks like the same old wine in a new, shiny, celebrity endorsed bottle, I hear you say. Well, I think sometimes a makeover makes a lot of difference.
For any sport to be successful today, it has to be commercially viable. While European football is all about TV rights money and huge sponsorship deals, South America is more of a talent factory where the next Messis and Neymars are made and shipped to Europe for big money. The moneys earned this way are ploughed back to develop of sport further (by attracting better talent, investing in infrastructure and youth development programs etc). That's how the clubs and the leagues stay afloat and the sport prospers.
In India, the I-League has failed to do any of the above. It is not attractive enough for good talent which limits its power to attract fans which then makes it impossible to attract money in the form of sponsorship or broadcast rights. It doesn't even have necessary infrastructure to develop it's own talent and follow the South American model.
Hero Indian Super League bids to change all that. And it has been making all the right noises so far. Let's take a look at how ISL might spark a football revolution in India and awaken a sleeping giant.
International Talent
ISL has managed to bring some star names (albeit a little yesteryear) of world football to India. The likes of Malouda, Roberto Carlos, Anelka, Simao, Tuncay have made the footballing world sit up and take notice. Unlike in season one, however, the international players in season two are contributing not just by selling the name of the league to the world but also by performing admirably on the football pitch. The crop of international players this season is much younger in comparison to last season. This not only results in better quality football (thus attracting more nuanced football fans) but also in forcing Indian players to raise their standards. The outcome of this will most certainly be that some Indians will not be able to match the required standards and fall off the wayside while some will most certainly thrive in such illustrious company. We've already seen some young players like Mandar Desai (23), Jackichand Singh(23) and Sandesh Jhingan(22) perform admirably and they will only get better.
International coaches like David Platt, Roberto Carlos, Habas and others bring their own brand of football which will give Indians much needed tactical nous. Looking at Indian national team fail at every possible challenge over the past few years, I've realized that although some of our players have talent, they can't match the tactical discipline and know-how of their rivals. Things like positioning sense, organization of defences, role of a playmaker etc are some of the things I've seen missing from our game. Getting coached by these stalwarts of the game will instil these qualities in Indian players.
Celebrity Attraction
We Indians are obsessed with celebrities. We lap anything up which the celebrities promote. Then it is no surprise that the celebrity owners have made immense contribution by lending their face to Indian football. Celebrities attract the fence-sitting fan who rarely watches football (maybe a cricket fan). Let's face it, those who are entirely disinterested in any kind of sport will never watch football, celebrity or not. The hope is that these fence-sitter will eventually turn into connoisseurs once they've experienced the game for a while.
Sponsors and Broadcasters
The moneybags. All the buzz and hoopla around ISL attracts big sponsors and broadcast rights money. This money is vital for the sustenance of the league.
All this is fine but how does it help Indian football, I hear you ask!
Well, first of all as I've already mentioned before, the players are better off due to all the international exposure (of the non-IIPM kind). There's another beautiful thing happening behind the scenes. The grassroots program! This program is essentially concerned with investing in football at the grassroot level. Youth development, infrastructure etc are the big things on the agenda. The idea is to create a healthy supply line of talent to the ISL clubs (not much unlike the South American model) and reduce dependence on imported talent. Having said that, imported talent will always have its own place but, you get the idea. Some clubs, like Atletico de Kolkata, can even think about exporting their young talent to Europe and even player exchanges but that's a pipe dream for now.
For a football fan like me, Hero ISL is a great start for a beautiful footballing future of the country. We can even dare to dream beyond the World Cup qualifying stages (too many IIPM references in the article, sorry)!
 |
| And some animal life too... |
We Indians suck at football. We recently dropped another 5 positions on the FIFA rankings (I had no idea there were 5 more positions below us) to 172. At least now, there can't be too many more positions left below us to fall to.
How and why are we so bad? These questions have been discussed and dissected by all the 253 people in India who care about the sport and the answer seems to be anywhere from 'climatic conditions dont suit football' to 'there's no infrastructure' to 'we're too short to compete with the Europeans' to 'Cricket has killed every other sport' to a plethora of other reasons. While I also agree that there is some truth to all those factors, they can be easily countered by giving various examples from all over the world where those factors haven't really been able to hold back the development of the beautiful game.
In this article, I'm not going to discuss these reasons or give more reasons of my own. I'm going to discuss a possible solution to improving the condition of the game. I'm going to discuss what all could be done and should be done and more importantly, what all is already being done. More specifically, one Hero which has emerged on the scene, a Hero that we don't deserve but a Hero that we all need.
 |
| No...not this guy! |
Yes, the glitzy, shiny new cousin of our very own poor Ramu Kaka of football leagues, the I-League (don't be fooled by the 'I', it wasn't made in China by Apple). But it looks like the same old wine in a new, shiny, celebrity endorsed bottle, I hear you say. Well, I think sometimes a makeover makes a lot of difference.
| It really does, trust me! |
In India, the I-League has failed to do any of the above. It is not attractive enough for good talent which limits its power to attract fans which then makes it impossible to attract money in the form of sponsorship or broadcast rights. It doesn't even have necessary infrastructure to develop it's own talent and follow the South American model.
 |
| South American model |
International Talent
ISL has managed to bring some star names (albeit a little yesteryear) of world football to India. The likes of Malouda, Roberto Carlos, Anelka, Simao, Tuncay have made the footballing world sit up and take notice. Unlike in season one, however, the international players in season two are contributing not just by selling the name of the league to the world but also by performing admirably on the football pitch. The crop of international players this season is much younger in comparison to last season. This not only results in better quality football (thus attracting more nuanced football fans) but also in forcing Indian players to raise their standards. The outcome of this will most certainly be that some Indians will not be able to match the required standards and fall off the wayside while some will most certainly thrive in such illustrious company. We've already seen some young players like Mandar Desai (23), Jackichand Singh(23) and Sandesh Jhingan(22) perform admirably and they will only get better.
International coaches like David Platt, Roberto Carlos, Habas and others bring their own brand of football which will give Indians much needed tactical nous. Looking at Indian national team fail at every possible challenge over the past few years, I've realized that although some of our players have talent, they can't match the tactical discipline and know-how of their rivals. Things like positioning sense, organization of defences, role of a playmaker etc are some of the things I've seen missing from our game. Getting coached by these stalwarts of the game will instil these qualities in Indian players.
Celebrity Attraction
 |
| Everyone's touching the ball. John is smart, he's touching God! |
We Indians are obsessed with celebrities. We lap anything up which the celebrities promote. Then it is no surprise that the celebrity owners have made immense contribution by lending their face to Indian football. Celebrities attract the fence-sitting fan who rarely watches football (maybe a cricket fan). Let's face it, those who are entirely disinterested in any kind of sport will never watch football, celebrity or not. The hope is that these fence-sitter will eventually turn into connoisseurs once they've experienced the game for a while.
Sponsors and Broadcasters
The moneybags. All the buzz and hoopla around ISL attracts big sponsors and broadcast rights money. This money is vital for the sustenance of the league.
All this is fine but how does it help Indian football, I hear you ask!
Well, first of all as I've already mentioned before, the players are better off due to all the international exposure (of the non-IIPM kind). There's another beautiful thing happening behind the scenes. The grassroots program! This program is essentially concerned with investing in football at the grassroot level. Youth development, infrastructure etc are the big things on the agenda. The idea is to create a healthy supply line of talent to the ISL clubs (not much unlike the South American model) and reduce dependence on imported talent. Having said that, imported talent will always have its own place but, you get the idea. Some clubs, like Atletico de Kolkata, can even think about exporting their young talent to Europe and even player exchanges but that's a pipe dream for now.
For a football fan like me, Hero ISL is a great start for a beautiful footballing future of the country. We can even dare to dream beyond the World Cup qualifying stages (too many IIPM references in the article, sorry)!
