India: Football's sleeping giant?

[Twinblade]

Why do people of india support only cricket & corrupt IPL?

Because it is associated with national pride. Our football team hasn't been anywhere near good since the late 1950 when we were the Asian champions. That's why it lost to hockey and cricket which were pretty close in terms of popularity back then. Football occupied East and SOuth West India, Cricket occupied all the major city centers and Hockey had a dominion over the north. Hockey remained the no 1 sport till the 1982 Asian games after which the quality of Indian hockey started taking a hit. Cricket on the other hand has been more consistent. Even in the worst of years our cricket team has been winning something against major teams.

I wonder, what is stopping Indians from taking it up.

As a sport, I must say it directly rivals cricket in terms of popularity and the number of people who play it recreationally. People take up sports professionally in the promise of fame, glory and money, neither of which will come to Indian football team till it regularly starts beating the top teams of Asia at least. Sponsorship won't come till the players aren't popular and have a personal charm about them, and seriously, who wants a bunch of losers as the face of their product campaign ? International success is what converts non viewers to casual viewers, casual viewers to regular viewers and regular viewers to die hard fans. I bet all the European leagues put together have at least 10 times the viewership of Indian league, if not more, largely because they are full of players who have done well internationally.

Dont forget that majority of all Indians (except North East) are also responsible for not taking special interest in other sports. ONLY CRICKET. I think it is in our genes and bloodline.

Small Countries like Croatia & Ecuador are in the Top 10 of FIFA rankings and India is below 100 which is a shame. If they can do it, what's India's excuse? If possible India can have 10,000 local teams. But how much money & investment is required that is the main issue.

Mali is ranked higher than Japan and Australia in FIFA World rankings in spite of having a Civil War

Countries from the Carribbean, Sri Lanka and even broke Zimbabwe are in the cricket's top ten, what is Germany's, China's and USA's excuse ? Sri Lanka won the World Cup in spite of having a Civil War !!

Do you now realise the fault in your logic now ? People watch cricket because we grew up watching cricket over the years. People play cricket professionally because by playing cricket, you have a chance of being known and being paid. Cricket as a whole gets top sponsorship deals because our country is reasonably good at it, and this is despite the steep learning curve of cricket. Your attitude reflects that of a typical Indian non-cricket sports fan who blames cricket for everything wrong with the sporting circuit.

 

[Coalmine]

First thing will be to give children shoes,a football and a ground. That will do to arouse interest among youth. Majority of them play barefoot. Tactics and skills they will learn on their own.

 

[Abhijeet Dey]

World Cup 2010: India's football absence examined
By Mukesh Sharma
BBC Hindi|11 July 2010

There is an old proverb in India: "Padhoge Likhoge to banoge nawab, kheloge koodoge to banoge kharab."

It means that if you study properly you will be successful in life, but on the other hand if you play too much you will simply waste your life. This mentality has contributed to India's poor performance in sports. And it is probably why India has made an impact on the world map more as a country which has produced more software professionals, doctors, engineers etc. rather than as a nation of sportsmen.

Before a Cricket World Cup win in 1983, India's other major sporting victory was in 1975 when the national field hockey team won the World Cup. With the beginning of European countries' domination in hockey, Indian Cricket World Cup triumph in 1983 gave the nation something new to cheer for. Cricket picked up the pace in India and world class players like Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar helped in boosting the popularity of game. The kind of attention cricketers got and their celebrity status meant that budding young sporting talent moved towards cricket.

Football, on the other hand, was a once popular game but has now fallen into a vicious cycle. It needs funds to attract the talent and popularise the sport, but to attract sponsors they need a team with which the sponsors would like to associate themselves.It could have been very different. While India has never played in the World Cup finals, in 1950 the country did actually manage to qualify - but withdrew at the last minute because it was too expensive to travel to the competition in Brazil.

It has never since come close to qualifying again - and currently sits bleow 100 in the Fifa world rankings behind the likes of Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Yemen.
All these factors would suggest that Indian interest in the World Cup would be low, but that is far from the case. Being absent from the global stage means fans are free to pick and choose which ever teams they want. The Indian football obsession is to the extent that people are awake for late nights to watch matches and support their favourite teams.

Meanwhile, online, networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have seen some of the top Bollywood stars adding their thoughts on events in South Africa.
Bollywood star Sharukh Khan was supporting Germany. Heartbroken, he tweeted: "Germany my team lost...feel bad taking my lil ones to matches where our team loses..." In restaurants and offices you can find people discussing vuvuzelas and the issue of Jabulani ball - and, as in much of the world, the 'psychic' predictions of Paul the Octopus have captured the imagination of India as well.

The interest in the World Cup has been to the extent that the timing of organising Asia Cup cricket in Sri Lanka in third week of June was also questioned. Despite good performances by India, the TV viewership was affected by the football. For years, Indians were huge fans of Brazil - until they fell for Diego Maradona in 1986.
Indian supporters were then divided between Brazil and Argentina. The division was again evident this time in eastern state West Bengal and southern state Kerala, where people generally use wall paintings, posters and banners to show their support. But, as Brazil and Argentina went out of the finals, Indian fans had to choose between the two finalists - Netherlands and Spain.

In years to come, it is hoped that Indian football fanatics will not have to make such a choice, instead being able to support their own nation. A few English Premier League teams like Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool have initiated some talent hunt schemes in India - a sign that the nation may yet produce some world class footballing talent.

But there is still a long way to go. If you ask a common man about national team of football, at the most they would remember the team captain Baichung Bhutia's name but even he would have to thank his victory in a dance reality show for this. And the national competition - the I-League - has failed miserably to attract attention.

But in a bid to improve the condition of football in India, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) last year announced to give 250 million rupees (around $5 million) to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) over the next five years.

 

[Abhijeet Dey]

World Cup 2010: India's football absence examined
By Mukesh Sharma
BBC Hindi|11 July 2010

There is an old proverb in India: "Padhoge Likhoge to banoge nawab, kheloge koodoge to banoge kharab."

It means that if you study properly you will be successful in life, but on the other hand if you play too much you will simply waste your life. This mentality has contributed to India's poor performance in sports. And it is probably why India has made an impact on the world map more as a country which has produced more software professionals, doctors, engineers etc. rather than as a nation of sportsmen.

Before a Cricket World Cup win in 1983, India's other major sporting victory was in 1975 when the national field hockey team won the World Cup. With the beginning of European countries' domination in hockey, Indian Cricket World Cup triumph in 1983 gave the nation something new to cheer for. Cricket picked up the pace in India and world class players like Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar helped in boosting the popularity of game. The kind of attention cricketers got and their celebrity status meant that budding young sporting talent moved towards cricket.

Football, on the other hand, was a once popular game but has now fallen into a vicious cycle. It needs funds to attract the talent and popularise the sport, but to attract sponsors they need a team with which the sponsors would like to associate themselves.It could have been very different. While India has never played in the World Cup finals, in 1950 the country did actually manage to qualify - but withdrew at the last minute because it was too expensive to travel to the competition in Brazil.

It has never since come close to qualifying again - and currently sits bleow 100 in the Fifa world rankings behind the likes of Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Yemen.
All these factors would suggest that Indian interest in the World Cup would be low, but that is far from the case. Being absent from the global stage means fans are free to pick and choose which ever teams they want. The Indian football obsession is to the extent that people are awake for late nights to watch matches and support their favourite teams.

Meanwhile, online, networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have seen some of the top Bollywood stars adding their thoughts on events in South Africa.
Bollywood star Sharukh Khan was supporting Germany. Heartbroken, he tweeted: "Germany my team lost...feel bad taking my lil ones to matches where our team loses..." In restaurants and offices you can find people discussing vuvuzelas and the issue of Jabulani ball - and, as in much of the world, the 'psychic' predictions of Paul the Octopus have captured the imagination of India as well.

The interest in the World Cup has been to the extent that the timing of organising Asia Cup cricket in Sri Lanka in third week of June was also questioned. Despite good performances by India, the TV viewership was affected by the football. For years, Indians were huge fans of Brazil - until they fell for Diego Maradona in 1986.
Indian supporters were then divided between Brazil and Argentina. The division was again evident this time in eastern state West Bengal and southern state Kerala, where people generally use wall paintings, posters and banners to show their support. But, as Brazil and Argentina went out of the finals, Indian fans had to choose between the two finalists - Netherlands and Spain.

In years to come, it is hoped that Indian football fanatics will not have to make such a choice, instead being able to support their own nation. A few English Premier League teams like Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool have initiated some talent hunt schemes in India - a sign that the nation may yet produce some world class footballing talent.

But there is still a long way to go. If you ask a common man about national team of football, at the most they would remember the team captain Baichung Bhutia's name but even he would have to thank his victory in a dance reality show for this. And the national competition - the I-League - has failed miserably to attract attention.

But in a bid to improve the condition of football in India, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) last year announced to give 250 million rupees (around $5 million) to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) over the next five years.

 

[Abhijeet Dey]

Government clears way for 2017 Fifa U-17 World Cup
PTI Jun 13, 2013

NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday gave the go-ahead to India's ambitious bid to host the U-17 Football World Cup in 2017, thus boosting the country's chances of organising the tournament that is already being backed by Fifa vice president Jerome Valcke.

"The Union Cabinet today gave its approval to the proposal for submitting guarantees sought by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) from the Government of India for their bid to host the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Under 17 World Cup Football Tournament in 2017 in India," a statement issued by the sports ministry said.

Till now uncertainty loomed large over India's bid as Fifa, world football's governing body, needed guarantees on tax exemption, security, transport and accommodation of players, visa and foreign exchange.

India's first bid was rejected early this year, in January, due to insufficient assurances from the government. But with the government today giving the green signal in providing guarantees that would meet Fifa's basic requirements, it has paved the way for a strong bid.

While the expenses of hosting the event will be borne by Fifa and AIFF, the government has assured additional financial assistance.

"While the expenditure for upgradation of stadia (Rs.95 crore) will be provided as additional central assistance to the State Governments, a sum of Rs. 25 crore is kept as a contingency to ensure smooth conduct of the tournament.

"AIFF and Fifa have agreed to bear the entire expenditure of hosting the tournament. The amounts required are to be raised through sponsorships and other commercial agreements," the statement added.

The AIFF has proposed holding of matches in five states -- Delhi, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka and one among the states of Assam, Goa and Kerala.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had, last month, approved AIFF's bid.

Following the clearance from PMO, the sports ministry got down to preparing a cabinet note for their approval.

Ireland, Uzbekistan and South Africa are the other three bidders. India will have to submit its bid by September after which the Fifa will make a final announcement in December.

Fifa's objective is to help India improve its football infrastructure and grassroots through organising the tournament. But Valcke, during his visit to the country last year, had made it clear that India will have to adhere to the norms if they hope to host the tournament.

"The proposed Under-17 World Cup would encourage more youngsters to participate in sports and also help develop the sport of football in the country. It will also promote tourism in the country.

"The event also has a lot of importance from the point of view of playing technique, training, coaching and competition exposure, etc, especially at under-17 level, and thus would be good for the future of football in India," the ministry statement said.

During his visit, Valcke had stated: "There will no change in rules and it will be normal bidding process with countries competing. But we want the Under-17 World Cup to go to a country where the game can be developed from the grassroots.

"India is a huge football market. A country of 1.2 billion cannot lag behind in football. We see the event as the perfect platform for the development of infrastructure and grassroots development. We want to make football the number two sport in India in ten years."
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[Abhijeet Dey]

Proposed new football league has a buzz
Marcus Mergulhao, Times of India Jun 2, 2013

PANAJI: India's top footballers have a new address and it's not even at a registered club, for now. Some of India's leading players, including the iconic Baichung Bhutia, have pledged their services to the ambitious IPL-style football league which is proposed to be hosted by IMG-Reliance, promoters of Indian football, early next year.

For the moment, several questions are being asked about the cash-rich league that will be a game changer. The All India Football Federation have stayed mum, clubs are up in arms against the tournament, and the less adventurous players are watching their steps.

The uncertainty, though, has not stopped some of leading names from putting pen to paper. And their cause is being championed by Baichung Bhutia.

"We have 12 players on our roll for the moment. Many (players) will complete the formalities next week," said a senior official who has been entrusted with the task of convincing the players that their future lies with the cash-rich league.

Gouramangi Singh, India's costliest footballer with last season's Rs 1 crore deal with Prayag United, was the first footballer to sign on the dotted line.

India defender Syed Rahim Nabi followed but it was Bhutia, understandably, who was the Pied Piper. Once he signed, the likes of Sanju Pradhan, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Sushil Kumar Singh, Ishfaq Ahmed, Renedy Singh, Surkumar Singh, Sandesh Jhingan and goalkeeper Subrata Paul all signed without hesitation.

India captain Sunil Chhetri has proved to be a tricky customer and is emboldened by a "very good offer" from I-League newcomers JSW Sports.

Who's in it?

Bhaichung Bhutia and Gouramangi Singh were first ones to sign. The rest Sanju Pradhan, M Wadoo, Sushil Kumar, Ishfaq Ahmed, Renedy Singh, Surkumar Singh, Sandesh Jhingan and goalkeeper Subrata Paul signed immediately.

 

[Sabir]

So how should we proceed to make soccer the most popular sport among Indian youth? Top priority in Indian Budget with billions of dollars in cash for spreading propaganda in support of Football.

1) Make a list of schools which have their own grounds. Help them in maintaining it; provide necessary infra and equipments. Employ ex-players (Who have played at least state levels)....I wonder why GOI employ sportspersons in organisations like Railway, FCI etc instead of schools.

2)Good infra in Club levels- take help from Gov or bring in corporates. There must be minimum level of infra to participate in I -league.

Rest will follow automatically.

 

[Abhijeet Dey]

1) Make a list of schools which have their own grounds. Help them in maintaining it; provide necessary infra and equipments. Employ ex-players (Who have played at least state levels)....I wonder why GOI employ sportspersons in organisations like Railway, FCI etc instead of schools.

So you are saying that indian footballers should be trained from young age. Political responsibility for sport in India is with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports which is headed by cabinet minister Jitendra Singh who is also Minster of State for Defence.

2)Good infra in Club levels- take help from Gov or bring in corporates. There must be minimum level of infra to participate in I -league.

Rest will follow automatically.

Even Abhishek Bachchan has said that India should qualify for FIFA world cup. Though Cricket is the No.1 sport in India and cannot be replaced by Football but it has the ability to become No.2 Indian sport. What do Shahrukh Khan, Shilpa Shetty & Priety Zinta have to say on this? According to Forbes magazine, Cricket IPL is the second richest sporting league after the NBA Basketball.

 

[Abhijeet Dey]

Football expert ridicules AIFF idea of IPL-style league
PTI Jul 26, 2013

MUMBAI: Footballer-turned-analyst Paul Masefield on Friday criticised All India Football Federation's idea of holding an IPL-style league, saying that it can have an adverse impact on the development of the game in the country.

"This is a ridiculous idea that could have a real negative and adverse effect on Indian football and the I-League, in particular. This isn't cricket. It's football. You can't do it with football. You can do it with cricket. It's great," the former English professional said.

The AIFF and its marketing partner IMG-Reliance have proposed to hold a city-based franchise league on the lines of popular Indian Premier League in cricket.

But the proposal has met with opposition from the I-League clubs who have decided not to release any of their players for the proposed tournament.

"It's nonsense. I do believe it makes a mockery of the I-League. If you see the way some of the teams have done and gone through ... Trevor Morgan (coach of Kingfisher East Bengal) has done a fantastic job. I have watched them play this year in AFC Cup. They have developed. Now all of a sudden you have a tournament that is 70 days or three months (long)," he said.

"It's not going to help fund the I-League. Why don't they go in and help fund the I-League? That would be more beneficial - by giving the money there, filtering down to the teams, paying the players more, making it more viable. So for me, it's nonsense. I wouldn't agree with that league at all."

Masefield, who was recently appointed technical director of Mumbai-based Kooh Sports Football Development Centre, pointed out that a similar thing happened in Indonesia with two domestic leagues in place -- the Indonesian Premier League and the Indonesia Super League -- and it threatened the sport in that country.

"Look what happened in Indonesia with the split. They have got major problems with two leagues running and it is only by the grace of God that FIFA hasn't sanctioned them.

"I think there would be repercussions. Is it going to be a split league? Is it going to be sanctioned by AIFF? If it is, then later down the line if there is a fallout, then what happens then?" he asked.

"It's wrong. It's a two-month league. You need one league and 8-9 months (of duration). That is how you roll it out. It's something that I don't agree with. The I-League was here well before IMG-Reliance and all that. Unfortunately, all this is about money and I think it would have an adverse effect on the I-League," Masefield said.

Masefield, who was a part of the Birmingham City squad in the late 80s and early 90s, felt Indian players don't measure up to the standards of their European counterparts, because they don't receive a proper grounding in basic skills.

"There is a vast difference. I think the biggest problem over here is that they have never been taught the fundamental basics at an early age. That is a real problem. That is why I wanted to get involved and that is why I am part of this programme," he said.

 

[Abhijeet Dey]

Continued from Above..............

"Because I think it is vitally important that the kids do get to know how to stop a ball, how to pass, move the ball and over all basics that are key elements in making a footballer or talent.

"The good thing is that because it hasn't been done before, when you do it now, there will be instant success and within two three months, you will see a difference in the kids. It's how you sustain that interest, and that is part of our programme," he said.

Masefield said Kooh Sports will look at setting up football academies across the country to nurture talent.

"We will be doing clinics that range from two days to a week and then we will be looking at setting up academies in different locations. We are not looking at just the metro cities. We want to increase the talent pool so that they have more players to chose from in the future."

Without mentioning any name, the Singapore-based football analyst took a dig at some of the top European clubs who, he said, visited the Asian countries only for making some money without giving anything back.

"A lot of European clubs, they just come in, have a camp and they go away. Now I have lived in Asia over half my life and I can tell you that a lot of these European Clubs try to take money and go. They are not giving anything back. They are not doing it right."

Masefield said the exception to this rule was Manchester United.

"At least Manchester United has a soccer school here. They are doing it right. Their base is strong, which is good. The more people who do it, the bigger the talent pool and it is only going to benefit Indian football," he said.

The former footballer saw a huge boost to the game in the country if India's proposed bid to host the Under-17 FIFA World Cup in four years' time is successful.

"It would be a massive help. Scott O'Donell, who is with the AIFF, is looking to try and implement things. The federation is trying to pull this together. They are trying to get this talent base so that in the next 12 months, they can develop them for this competition."

He predicted an increased participation in the game in India, which he expected to double in the next few years, because of the World Cup in Brazil next year and the continuing popularity of the English Premier League.

"Football in India is big anyways. Everyone says it's a second cousin to cricket. Why should football be cast as a second fiddle? I think within the next 12 months, everything is going to flip. Viewership for the English Premier League is going to be massive this year.

"Next year we have got the World Cup. It would not surprise me if the number of participation within football would be doubling or trebling in the next 12-14 months due to these two events," he said.

 

[Twinblade]

The people running the I-league will have to ultimately bite the bullet. They cannot even get a telecaster to cover their league matches ffs. If the standoff is not resolved, 3-4 years down the line, these clubs will have to shut down or migrate to IMG Reliance league, because to be fare, none of the proposed cities in IMG Reliance deal have any sort of existing fanatic football base (except Kolkata and Goa) and none of the clubs in the I league have to potential to attract big sponsorship, had it been the the case, football wouldn't be in such a shitty state.

 

[bose]

If India has to break into the big league of great football playing nations, it have to catch the talent at very young age and put them into hotel / accommodation with schooling facilities. A rigorous training and coaching regime will able to turn around things in 10 to 15 years of time...

ILeague with the same old players not going to take Indian football to even Asian level... we only see some average foreign players doing well here...

Just imagine the rank of Indian football some 40 years back and now where we are at present, it is really unfortunate...

 

[Abhijeet Dey]

Henry, Owen may play in IPL-style Indian football league next year
Times of India, Oct 21, 2013, 12.50 AM IST

MUMBAI: Former Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea superstars like Thierry Henry, Dwight Yorke, Fredrik Ljungberg, Robert Pires, Louis Saha and Hernan Crespo could soon be playing in your neighbourhood.

Reliance and IMG have floated a joint venture to kick off a multi-million dollar franchise-based football league starting January 2014. Incidentally, IMG and Reliance are also the commercial partners of the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

The first-of-its-kind football league in the country, likely to be called the Indian Super League, will feature eight teams with marquee players from across the world along with India's national stars and club and domestic talents in the three-month tournament scheduled from January to March next year.

The franchises-to be determined through an auction early next month-will also hire legendary names like former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel and World Cup winner Marcel Desailly as managers to coach these teams.

The invitation to tender document has already been floated by IMG-R and the base price to buy a franchise is learned to be around Rs 25 crore.

English football stars such as Yorke, Ljungberg, Pires, Crespo and Saha have already been brought on board for the tournament while bigger legends such as former Arsenal icon Henry and England's Michael Owen are in talks. Schmeichel and Desailly have also been signed up by IMG-R while more managers are negotiating their terms of joining.

To promote and broadcast the league in India and across the world, IMG-R has entered into a 10-year JV with Star India. The deal, TOI has learnt, is pegged at around Rs 1,500 crore.

Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Bangalore, Kochi, Goa and Pune have been identified as the nine venues that will be up for sale in the auction.

IMG-R chairperson Nita Ambani confirmed the development. "Having Star on board as a partner strengthens our efforts and commitment to propel Indian football to its rightful place. We see the launch of the football league as the realization of a dream of a billion-plus Indians to experience the most cherished game globally in new ways," she told TOI.

Uday Shankar, CEO Star India, said, "India is hungry for its second sport. For far too long, the Indian sports fan has waited for this revolution. Our objective is nothing short of creating a movement around football in India. We want to put India on the global map."

The eight-franchises will be determined through an auction process scheduled early next month. Indian Premier League franchise owners such as Shah Rukh Khan (Kolkata Knight Riders), Kalanidhi and Dayanidhi Maran (Hyderabad Sunrisers), GMR Group (Delhi Daredevils) and Emerging Media (Rajasthan Royals) have shown interest in buying teams. Apart from SRK, Bollywood stars such as Ranbir Kapoor, John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan too have shown interest. Among corporates, Air Asia's Tony Fernandes, Yes Bank chairman Rana Kapoor, the Venugopal Dhoot-owned Videocon Group, Airtel's Sunil Mittal, Anand Mahindra, Hero Group, UTV's Ronnie Screwala and Wizcraft's Sabbas Joseph are among those who are already in talks with IMG-R.

"The interest shown so far has been tremendous. Ranbir was earlier approached to become the brand ambassador but given the football fan that he is, he wanted team for himself," sources informed.