Football News

You could see the kids head to the football ground, with the symbols of Real Madrid or Manchester United gleaming proudly on their jerseys, a glitter in every eye, wanting to emulate their foreign idols. That’s right, FOREIGN idols.

In 2007, Indian Football has not just cricket, Formula 1 or even hockey to contend with; it has the European football leagues to overcome.

Don’t even bother walking into a sports shop to ask for a Mohun Bagan T-shirt. “ We don’t have any of those, but why not try our range of Spanish , English, Italian, German or even MLS t-shirts?”, is the answer you will get. The domestic league? It's a joke. Some of the teams simply play to exist in the league. Most of them end up spending most of their money hiring Brazilian players and African players to bail them out of their misery.

In 2006-2007 the 29 foreign players in the league scored as many as 133 of the 243 goals scored, ;eaving the 254 Indians to manage 110 strikes between them. Our only ray of sunshine? Sunil Chetri, who top scored among the Indians with 12 goals.

The practice grounds, football arenas, television broadcasts are all a huge mess. I couldn’t help watch in dismay, when Jose Mourinho moaned about the pathetic state of the pitch at Stamford Bridge a few years back. That pitch would be heaven to our Indian professionals!

Want to catch a match between the heavyweights East Bengal and Mohun Bagan? Tough luck my friend! It’s not anyone’s fault here. The number of spectators is low since the standard of the game in our country is pitiable. One would rather watch TV and be wowed by a classy Maradona-like goal by Messi or an unbelievable free-kick from Gerrard.

On the other hand, fewer the spectators, lesser the revenue which means lesser the wages and lesser the standards of the sport. It happens to be a symbiotic relationship. It’s just that neither side’s contributing much to each other. People too are reluctant to follow a career in professional football. They prefer cricket, especially now that wages in the game are increasing

We need a Sunil Chetri or a Bhaichung Bhutia to get a few big advertising deals in order to prove that money exists in football. Maybe then reluctant Indian parents will let their children pursue a career in this otherwise impoverished field.

Perhaps the I-League will bring us something new and exciting. But with the same old clubs and the same old faces on the pitch, one can’t help but think this is just a cosmetic makeover. I’ll still be keeping my fingers crossed though.

Source: //goal.com