The new champions of the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup will be crowned tonight after the title clash between defending champions Spain and surprise finalists Colombia in Navi Mumbai. The final brings to an end another World Cup “ after the U-17 Men’s World Cup in 2017 “ hosted by India. The FIFA youth showpiece will be a memorable one for the quality of action on the field and some upset results by the lesser-known teams. Tournament debutantes Morocco impressed in the group stage, while fellow first-timers Tanzania went a step further in reaching the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Hosts India were the other debutantes and came into the tournament with cautious optimism and a claim by coach Thomas Dennerby that his team would be hard to score against added to the curiosity surrounding the team and raised the expectations of the fans. However, the results on the pitch were deflating as the team opened with a 0-8 hammering at the hands of the USA. That the team showed marked improvement in their next two group games against fellow debutantes Morocco and the mighty Brazil only showed that the Indians were not ready to step up to this level of international football, even in the U-17 bracket.
However, irrespective of the results, what was clear is that there was no lack of effort from the Indians, who even went close to scoring a historic goal against Brazil in their last group match. Though disheartening, the performance could be a blessing in disguise and prove to be a catalyst in turning around the fortunes of women’s football in India. The results show that India were not prepared enough to take on the best teams in the world. After the group stage debacle, Dennerby reasoned that he had talented players but they lack the nourishing ecosystem in the country that would turn them into the well-rounded players who are ready to compete with the USAs and Brazils of the world. It means they need to train at a centralised academy and play competitive football for 6-8 months in a year.
The coach’s explanation exposes the apathy shown towards women’s football by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), which organises just a two-month Indian Women’s League for the senior women footballers. For things to change, the girls will need more game time in a year-long season where full-time clubs compete. One hopes AIFF realises it is not enough to just host FIFA or AFC tournaments but also build a player pool for the future. Unless the federation gets its priorities right, we will never see our teams playing in the knockouts of FIFA tournaments.
A Women’s IPL, finally
While Indian women footballers continue to be victims of discrimination from their federation, their counterparts in cricket are finally getting the long overdue recognition from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The announcement of the inaugural women’s IPL, coupled with the BCCI’s decision to bring match fees of women cricketers at par with men will go a long way in making the country’s top sport gender equal. The decision on pay parity will not completely bring men and women at same level as there is a huge gulf between what they are paid through central contracts. However, what is expected to be a game changer is the introduction of IPL for women in March.
While there has been a steady growth of women’s cricket in India over the past decade, it dwarfs in comparison to the level achieved by the men’s team. A women’s IPL with crème de la crème of world cricket in action is sure to raise the popularity of women’s cricket globally.
