I can still vividly remember the first football match which I watched as a kid. It was the final of World Cup 1998, France vs Brazil. I watched the match just for the heck of it, as it was splashed all over the newspapers as one of the most mouth watering finals of all time. I owe it to that game, as it left such a lasting impression on me that I was instantly sucked into the game be it watching, following or playing it. The two goals and a masterful display by the genius Zinedine Zidane would have left even a stone floored, let alone me. From then on started my tryst with Football and more so with English Premier League (EPL).
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The late 90s and early Y2Ks were the years when the world understood the potential of market in Asia. David Beckham was the face of this marketing movement. He was the first football icon who caught my eye and because of him, I started following EPL. Unlike Cricket, Football could be broadcasted week-in week-out throughout the year. So the sports channels also stood to earn decent revenues by broadcasting football. Thus started the televised revolution of football broadcasting in Asia and India.
By now there is a very good following of the game established in most of Asia. That’s why we see the world’s most popular teams starting from clubs like AC Milan, Manchester United to international teams like Brazil playing in Japan, Singapore and Korea. While countries like S.Korea have already hosted the World Cup and Japan who have given a very good account of themselves in the World Cups, India still has a long way to go to catch up with coutries like these. With Australia being shifted to the Asia-Oceana group from this year, the competition for places is getting tougher.
We have a domestic structure of Football established in India since a long time. India joined FIFA as a member in 1948, and in fact we are one of the founding members of Asian Football Confederation. The domestic structure in Indian Football as follows:
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I-League- is the top tier league in the Indian football system. The champions of the I-League will qualify for the AFC Champions League while the runners-up qualify for the AFC Cup club championships in 2010. The bottom two teams will be relegated to I-League 2nd Division in the next season. |
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Federation Cup- is an annual knockout style football tournament for clubs. |
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Durand Cup- the oldest football tournament (started in 1888) in India, is also 3rd oldest football tournament in the world, after the English FA-Cup and the Scottish FA-Cup. |
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Santosh Trophy- is an annual Indian football tournament which is contested by states and government institutions. The first winners were Bengal, who also leads the all-time winners list with 29 titles till date. |
I-League replaced the 11 season old National Football League in 2007-08. This tourney is sponsored by ONGC and is telecasted live on Zee Sports. It started with 10 teams in the first season and now has 12 teams playing in the second. Dempo United were the winners of the league title last year. This is a initiative taken up by AIFF and other sponsors in a effort towards professionalizing the game in India.
Its always been the states of West Bengal, Kerala, Goa, Assam, Mizoram and a few other states which have provided , if I can call, the stars for the Indian national team. Its been pretty mysterious in the way this game was given little or no attention post independence. While we started off as a very strong football nation winning a few top prizes now we are in a very pathetic state of affairs. It needs a lot of investment from the grass root levels if the game has to grow. With the amount of population we have at our disposal it’s a pity that we cannot produce a quality squad which can reach a respectable position in world football. We still don’t have even a half decent team whereas smaller countries or even islands like Trinidad and Tobago have teams which compete with the elite of Europe and South America.
Football at a closer look is a combination of Skills and Strength. It’s a test of stamina, concentration, skill and tactics. If developing countries like Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico can produce world class players, then why not we? India is known to excel in sports which involve skill (e.g. chess,shooting,cricket) more than strength (e.g. Wrestling, Rugby, Basketball). Football requires both of these in optimum amounts. Thus I believe that if the so called (mis-) organizers of the game rise above petty politics and give the game the respect it commands and nurture it from scratch, then the day wont be far when we can proudly see an Indian football team competing with the Brazils, Spains or Englands of world football.
