Knocking cricket off its perch: The development of football in India

by Simon Godfrey

In a country which is growing at a rapid rate economically and with a population exceeding 1.2 billion (and growing) two questions arise: 1) what chance there is of football replacing cricket as the most popular sport in India? And 2) Are we likely to see the Indian national team being able to compete on the world’s largest stage any time soon?

I have been working in India for 3 weeks now and I can tell you this – football is a popular sport in India. I have a range of 6 sports channels in my hotel room and 3 of them are constantly showing football. I’m able to watch re-runs of all the top games from the EPL and Serie A, I can watch live EPL games throughout the week and I can also watch the Champions League live. But one thing is very obvious: there’s absolutely no coverage of any Indian football.

I’m told the contract hasn’t been renewed this season and the only way you might be able to catch up with what’s going on in India’s I-League is either via YouTube or unofficial local broadcasts. This lack of coverage isn’t going to help develop an interest in the country’s top football league. Whilst on the topic of the media, I’ve also noticed that there’s very little coverage of the I-League in any of the national papers and you’ll be lucky if you find a small section on Man Utd winning the EPL title or Barca knocking Real out of the Champions League. Instead, and as you’d probably expect, the sports pages are dominated by cricket and in particular, the IPL.

There is hope though. The AIFF (All India Football Federation) are attempting to re-invigorate the game in India with the creation of the I-League. Formed in 2007, the new I-League includes improved sponsorship, prize money, TV rights and following its first season, a chance for the winner of the league to take part in the Asian Football Club Champions League (alongside £70,000 in prize money).

These new incentives appear to be a step in the right direction with the I-League already expanding from an initial 10 teams to the 14 teams taking part in the 2009-2010 season.

Whilst the I-league is a national league the clubs who form the top division are from just 8 cities, with Mumbai and Kolkata supplying 3 teams each. The Indian equivalent of El Clasico features two teams from Kolkata, Mohun Bagan v East Bengal, a fixture that regularly attracts crowds of up to 60,000. Impressive for two clubs who’s history dates back some 90+ years (despite the lack of a consistent domestic league in the country). Finish in the bottom two in the I-League and you’ll be relegated to Division 2 where teams compete in 3 separate preliminary leagues with the top 2 in each league progressing to a final round alongside the two relegated teams from the I-League for a chance to win promotion.

However, whilst the Indian equivalent of El Clasico draws in huge crowds other games can be watched by attendances which fall in the hundreds rather than thousands and this demonstrates that the popularity of the I-League still has plenty of room for improvement.

The league is clearly growing though and the money invested in the IPL also demonstrates that there could be enough funding within India to tempt high profile players from overseas into the I-League to further improve its popularity.

League rules stipulate that clubs may register up to 4 foreign players, although only 3 may play at any one time so whilst this limits the opportunity to bring in foreign stars it does ensure that the league can provide a breeding ground for future stars of the national team and this, alongside ensuring the league’s stability, is where priorities should surely lie.

The clubs use their foreign quota wisely and will often use this capacity to recruit players who underpin the backbone of the side. Most of the foreign players in India are from Africa, a country with a similar climate and therefore the players don’t face the difficulties of adapting to the heat & conditions, something especially difficult to do in the northern part of the country. The league’s top scorer for the last four seasons has been a Nigerian, Odafe Onyeka Okolie and it’s no coincidence that he’s also the league’s highest paid player earning an estimated $200,000 per season.

But back to India, and on to the national side. The national team have never taken part in a World Cup (they qualified in 1950 but withdrew) and whilst threatening to promise in the past a lack of funding and facilities has hindered any chance of the side developing & progressing. The general view is that they’ve made recent improvement under the management of Bob Houghton (although he’s now left the role) and there is interest in the national team across the country. The new I-League, along with impetus around young player development, may provide a stable platform for the Indian national team to progress.

Youth development in Indian football

Which brings me on nicely to a favourite topic of mine – youth development. How does that work in India? Mark Roddicks, an FA Level 1 qualified coach who’s coaching at an academy in Pune told me this:

“There are a handful of football development centres in India that are very good but they lack financial backing, world class facilities and don’t always provide opportunities for young players so parents don’t encourage kids to enrol in them. There is no money and little chance to forge a career in football in India, but things are changing for the better now.

“New opportunities are coming up with the formation of state leagues, national leagues and youth leagues so people are taking an interest in youth development. Clubs in the I-League are now setting up centres of excellence which is working well but we’ll only start to see results 5-7 years later. I’d say hands down that the most promising aspect of Indian Football currently is youth development.”

The lack of scouting in India seems to be something which stands out in major contrast to Europe & South America. It’s certainly the case in Europe that clubs are now searching high and low for that bright young star (and they do it aggressively) but in India there isn’t much active scouting by clubs and instead they use a pull mechanism of arranging trials and inviting kids to attend. A process which is cheaper but also runs the risk of missing out on any potential star that happens to be playing in a local school team.

In addition to India’s focus on getting it right at grassroots level (and let’s be honest, there aren’t many countries who aren’t trying to get that one right) the AIFF have also created an U-19 league to support the transition of players from youth to adult football and have taken the bold step of creating a club within the I-League who are effectively the India U-21 side. Aimed at improving India’s chances of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, the AIFF created the Indian Arrows in 2010 and placed them straight in the I-League. In Europe, the nearest equivalent to this might be in Spain where you’ll find clubs like Barcelona B playing in their 2nd division.

India is also hoping to benefit from the work going on as part of the AFC’s Vision Asia project. In 2002, AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam launched a project to focus on developing 11 key “disciplines” of the game across Asia, with the hope of one day delivering an Asian nation capable of winning the World Cup.

The project is being run in 6 countries: India, China, Bangledesh, Iran, Thailand and Vietnam, but as with any project it hasn’t been plain sailing. In India, the idea was to begin the project in 3 states with a plan to increase the project across a further 3 year on year, hence gradually building coverage across the entire country. However, shortly after launching the project in India in 2008, the AFC withdrew their support because they felt their rules & regulations weren’t being followed.

The AFC wanted a system whereby each state would form a regional league and the winners would then go on to play in a national tournament where games would be home & away, i.e. a system which required funding. Because the popularity of football in India is still developing the regions struggled to secure the required funding to run the setup as per the AFC’s mandate and this is where the disputes started.

From the original 3 states selected to trial the project, key disciplines identified for development are – National Associations, Marketing, Grassroots, Coach Education, Referees, Sports Medicine, Men’s competitions, Women’s competitions, Futsal, Media & Fans. 2 withdrew to be replaced by Goa & Bengal. However, as of May 2011 the only active project is in the state of Kerala.

Fortunately for football in India, the AIFF and AFC are now re-launching the project and have announced plans as recently as April 2011 to start breathing new life in to the project. Michelle Chai, the AFC Vision Asia Director has stated that,

“This [revival] can be done either by revamping the entire strategic development plan or in some cases, by looking at other creative ways to overcome a particular challenge”.

That particular challenge presumably being the funds required to make this project work.

India is clearly trying to make improvements to the game at all levels and continued investment will be fundamental to the country’s chances of doing this. Expanding the I-League will also help the game develop, especially if the league can provide stability and expands to include teams from across the country.

India is a huge country with massive potential, but the single biggest stumbling block to their footballing development could well be their ability to join all the dots in this huge, yet disparate country.

Simon Godfrey is a contributor to Just Football and runs the coaching blog A coach’s journal. He would like to thank Mark Rodricks & Justin Jose for their help in writing this article.

(photo credit #1 – amangupta on Flickr)

India, Politics and Society, Youth Football