Football, undoubtedly, is the most loved and watched sport in the world but the sad part is in the second most populous country of the world, football finds itself ignored. The sad part of the sad part is whosoever loves football (here in India) follows European Football & International football than our own Indian Football (obviously not all of them - some 'Deshbhakts' are still alive). The reason for this is basically one thing - the Quality of football. The European Football overpowers every other country in the way they play football, they run football associations and the way fans appreciate and support football and football clubs like hell. As far as the quality of the football is concerned, India, despite having such a huge human resource, has been completely unable to take the quality of Indian football to an ultimate level.
Talking about origin of football in India, it is said that football was started in India in around mid-nineteenth century. It is also known that the game was introduced by the British soldiers. After the introduction, football was spreading like fire in India. The man behind this was Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhichary. It was in 1888 that Durand Cup (one of the famous Indian Domestic tournament) was founded. Durand Cup, though nowhere in popularity, is taught to be the third oldest football competition behind The English F.A.Cup and the Scottish Cup. Talking more of the history of not so historic Indian Football - 1889 was the year which gave birth to India's famous oldest current team, Mohun Bagan A.C. It was called Mohun Bagan Sprting Club at that time. After about 4 years, Indian Football Association came into picture. The sad but obvious part was that it did not even have a single Indian in the board. The first half of the 20th century was the most better part of Indian football as of now. A lot of club competitions came into existence which resulted in more and more clubs and that provided a great platform for the players to showcase their talent and succeed. In 1937, All India Football Federation was formed. Better known as AIFF, is currently the organization that manages and administers the game of football.
Olympics 1948 happens to be India's first major international tournament. Indian team played barefoot in the whole tournament but were unable to stamp their footprints in the world of football (Maybe that's why they say - Shoes are better!). The post is not meant to bore you all with the history of Indian football but it is seriously important to know the roots before talking about the flowers. So, Carrying on, India in 1950 messed up the chance of playing in the World Cup. First of all, luckily, India got into the World Cup and yes, Completely Luckily! It was due to the withdrawal of the scheduled opponents that India got into the World Cup finals. Reasons for messing up the chance were many. Lack of practice, cost of travel, team selection issues, not understanding the value of World Cup and last but not the least, playing barefoot which probably was banned at that time. I don't know if they were reasons or excuses, but whatever they were, they didn't even change the present of Indian football at that time but also influenced the future and that's why we are struggling.
How influential a person can be? Syed Abdul Rahim was the prime example of that. I don't know if he did his study in Architecture or not but he is the prime architect of Modern Indian football. As a coach, he took Indian football to soaring heights and that's the sole reason 1951-1962 is regarded as the Golden Era of Indian football. In this period, they became the best in Asia and even went on to finish fourth in Olympics in 1956. But in 1963, again everything changed. Syed Abdul Rahim died in 1963 due to cancer and sadly, Indian football also declined. Indian football was back to rags from riches. Since then, India is winning very low-key tournaments here and there but in the World Map, they are absolutely nowhere. In 1996, India got its own Football League but to be honest, no one actually cares for it. I-League, a new league setup which was supposed to change the football scene in India was introduced in 2007 but it has not been that beneficial.
There are many factors for football not being so popular in this part of the world. India has gone a long way in terms of development but it has failed completely to develop the most beautiful sport called Football. History is History, We can't change that. It is the present which is in our hands and we need to focus on it to bring about the change. Missing the 1950 World Cup was the biggest mistake which changed the destiny of Indian Football. It was the main reason which kind of erased India's name from the Football Map (Don't Worry! Nothing can erase it from World's Map or let's wait for December and see what happens!) Before globalizing the Indian Football, it would be great if AIFF concentrates in Nationalizing it first. There are just a few specific regions in India where football (Indian football specifically) is given some respect. The administrators have to learn a lot from the rise of cricket in India. And the rise is not a small one, it is something phenomenal. One thing AIFF should look at it is to start off a perfect base of readying footballers and it should start from schools. Football is very common in schools in India but the way the students play it in school would be enough to give a heart attack to Sir Alex Ferguson. The point is, the schools in India should have some proper coaches and physical education teachers who should be capable of teaching students the A to Z of football from formations to tactics to everything. I can bet you it is not at all difficult to find 20 awesome players in a country of 1.2 billion social animals. If the federation starts off building and discovering talents from schools, it would be super beneficial. Besides that, the domestic football structure should be a stable one. That means - Have a proper league and if necessary, modify it for the good instead of starting new leagues again and again. Applying the structure of European Leagues will be the best option to get out most productivity. Infrastructure is another important thing which should be looked into. From academies to football fields to administrative buildings to stadium architecture to hospitality - all needs to be top class. Quality is one thing which can not be compromised at all. Fans of football, in general, have to show much more enthusiasm towards the country's football. They are the ones who can actually take football to another level. They have to support their local teams and inspire them. We can say all the bullshit about the administration and the players but we need to understand that even Messi won't be who he is if he plays without supporters cheering him and his team in the stadium.
So, the administrators of Indian football have to be damn serious about the condition of football in India. They need to be more selfish and look down to football as an opportunity for everything. Football is a big brand and it's the best global sport. So, if we will have a proper base system, a proper league structure, some superb stadiums, some overly-enthusiastic supporters (who know that Indian football clubs exist), a manager like (or better than) Syed Abdul Rahim & some really talented players (who believe in themselves) - it will be enough to reach among the best. We maybe 169th in World Rankings right now but we are going to be in Top 10 soon as change is the only constant. Just Wait & Watch.....
Talking about origin of football in India, it is said that football was started in India in around mid-nineteenth century. It is also known that the game was introduced by the British soldiers. After the introduction, football was spreading like fire in India. The man behind this was Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhichary. It was in 1888 that Durand Cup (one of the famous Indian Domestic tournament) was founded. Durand Cup, though nowhere in popularity, is taught to be the third oldest football competition behind The English F.A.Cup and the Scottish Cup. Talking more of the history of not so historic Indian Football - 1889 was the year which gave birth to India's famous oldest current team, Mohun Bagan A.C. It was called Mohun Bagan Sprting Club at that time. After about 4 years, Indian Football Association came into picture. The sad but obvious part was that it did not even have a single Indian in the board. The first half of the 20th century was the most better part of Indian football as of now. A lot of club competitions came into existence which resulted in more and more clubs and that provided a great platform for the players to showcase their talent and succeed. In 1937, All India Football Federation was formed. Better known as AIFF, is currently the organization that manages and administers the game of football.
Olympics 1948 happens to be India's first major international tournament. Indian team played barefoot in the whole tournament but were unable to stamp their footprints in the world of football (Maybe that's why they say - Shoes are better!). The post is not meant to bore you all with the history of Indian football but it is seriously important to know the roots before talking about the flowers. So, Carrying on, India in 1950 messed up the chance of playing in the World Cup. First of all, luckily, India got into the World Cup and yes, Completely Luckily! It was due to the withdrawal of the scheduled opponents that India got into the World Cup finals. Reasons for messing up the chance were many. Lack of practice, cost of travel, team selection issues, not understanding the value of World Cup and last but not the least, playing barefoot which probably was banned at that time. I don't know if they were reasons or excuses, but whatever they were, they didn't even change the present of Indian football at that time but also influenced the future and that's why we are struggling.
How influential a person can be? Syed Abdul Rahim was the prime example of that. I don't know if he did his study in Architecture or not but he is the prime architect of Modern Indian football. As a coach, he took Indian football to soaring heights and that's the sole reason 1951-1962 is regarded as the Golden Era of Indian football. In this period, they became the best in Asia and even went on to finish fourth in Olympics in 1956. But in 1963, again everything changed. Syed Abdul Rahim died in 1963 due to cancer and sadly, Indian football also declined. Indian football was back to rags from riches. Since then, India is winning very low-key tournaments here and there but in the World Map, they are absolutely nowhere. In 1996, India got its own Football League but to be honest, no one actually cares for it. I-League, a new league setup which was supposed to change the football scene in India was introduced in 2007 but it has not been that beneficial.
There are many factors for football not being so popular in this part of the world. India has gone a long way in terms of development but it has failed completely to develop the most beautiful sport called Football. History is History, We can't change that. It is the present which is in our hands and we need to focus on it to bring about the change. Missing the 1950 World Cup was the biggest mistake which changed the destiny of Indian Football. It was the main reason which kind of erased India's name from the Football Map (Don't Worry! Nothing can erase it from World's Map or let's wait for December and see what happens!) Before globalizing the Indian Football, it would be great if AIFF concentrates in Nationalizing it first. There are just a few specific regions in India where football (Indian football specifically) is given some respect. The administrators have to learn a lot from the rise of cricket in India. And the rise is not a small one, it is something phenomenal. One thing AIFF should look at it is to start off a perfect base of readying footballers and it should start from schools. Football is very common in schools in India but the way the students play it in school would be enough to give a heart attack to Sir Alex Ferguson. The point is, the schools in India should have some proper coaches and physical education teachers who should be capable of teaching students the A to Z of football from formations to tactics to everything. I can bet you it is not at all difficult to find 20 awesome players in a country of 1.2 billion social animals. If the federation starts off building and discovering talents from schools, it would be super beneficial. Besides that, the domestic football structure should be a stable one. That means - Have a proper league and if necessary, modify it for the good instead of starting new leagues again and again. Applying the structure of European Leagues will be the best option to get out most productivity. Infrastructure is another important thing which should be looked into. From academies to football fields to administrative buildings to stadium architecture to hospitality - all needs to be top class. Quality is one thing which can not be compromised at all. Fans of football, in general, have to show much more enthusiasm towards the country's football. They are the ones who can actually take football to another level. They have to support their local teams and inspire them. We can say all the bullshit about the administration and the players but we need to understand that even Messi won't be who he is if he plays without supporters cheering him and his team in the stadium.
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| Wim Koevermans - The next Syed Abdul Rahim or just another foreign coach? |
So, the administrators of Indian football have to be damn serious about the condition of football in India. They need to be more selfish and look down to football as an opportunity for everything. Football is a big brand and it's the best global sport. So, if we will have a proper base system, a proper league structure, some superb stadiums, some overly-enthusiastic supporters (who know that Indian football clubs exist), a manager like (or better than) Syed Abdul Rahim & some really talented players (who believe in themselves) - it will be enough to reach among the best. We maybe 169th in World Rankings right now but we are going to be in Top 10 soon as change is the only constant. Just Wait & Watch.....
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