PANAJI
Someoneonce joking said, ”The only way India can qualify for the FIFAWorld Cup is to host it.” Well, that itself tells the sorry stateof affairs about the standard of football in India. The world’smost populus nation has always been a silent spectator, a sleepinggiant on the world football stage. A nation which is yet to discoverits true potential.
Rankedabove us are not just smaller countries like Kuwait, Bahrain andQatar, but also countries like Faroe Islands whose population is mere55,000. In fact, our country was ranked among top-100 in the mid90’s. But, since then it has been on the downslide thanks to themanner in which AIFF is being run. Currently, India is ranked 138 outof 211 nations.
Grass-rootlevel development
Grass-rootlevel development is the key to a country’s success. There shouldbe sustained youth development and grass-root development program byall the stakeholders associated with the game like clubs and stateassociations. Todevelop complete proficiency in football techniques, training is mustand that too one has to start at a very early age. World overfootball training starts very early in age and it almost takes 10-12years to develop all the nuances required to become a world classfootballer i.e. by the age of 16 to 18 years players are fullyprepared to take the world of football.
Talentspotting needs to be done at school level in every single district/taluka of the country on a compulsory basis. Every district shouldhave U-6, U-8, U-10, U-12, U-14 and U-16 coaching programme and ateach coaching center at least 50 to 100 boys/girls should be trained.Also, more tournaments need to be held at U-10, U-12, U-14, U-16 andU-19 level.
Lackof Infrastructure
Oneof the biggest problems in Indian football is the lack of properinfrastructure. There are not enough quality stadia / grounds in alarge country like ours which can be termed as truly world-class.Most of the grounds are either water-loggedpitches with absolutely no drainage facilities or covered with longgrass which is not properly cut or there are mud patches on theground which makes them totally unplayable and injury-prone forplayers. We need better infrastructure in the form of artificialturfs that will attract kids to come and play football.
CoachingStandards
Thecoaching standard in India is really poor. There are few good coachesin India today who can be termed as truly world-class. AIFF shouldinvest a lot in coaching program and must impart quality coacheducation training for coaches across all levels starting from thejuniors to the seniors and across all age groups beginning from U-12level. This will ensure that proper technique of playing the game isimparted to the players’ right from the grass-root level.
Fitnessof Players
Thefitness level of our Indian players is a big question mark. Indianscannot play the full 90-minute match with the same level ofenthusiasm and fitness. They get tired very fast after playing may beabout 60-65 minutes. Also, the kind of football displayed by them isbasically a slow-motion unlike the European countries which playfast-paced football. Indian players will need to improve upon theirstrength and fitness in order to complete with world players whocurrently out-size and out-run Indian players.
Brandingand Marketing
Footballtournaments in India have lost their luster. The quality of footballin India has declined over the years and so has the quantity. Thereare barely 20 All-India football tournaments held in India now unlikemore than a hundred in the 1970’s. Indian Super League (ISL) whichwas started in 2014 and National Football League (I-League) which wasstarted in 1996 in order to improve the standard of Indian footballhas not served its purpose at all. Crowd attendance to both theseleagues has declined a lot over the years.
Thelow standard of Indian football today is primarily due to the pooradministration of AIFF. AIFF is not a professional body. It isbasically run by politicians and bureaucrats and not professionals.
Indianfootball has a long way to go before it could reach the globalstandards. If we start now, then it will take at least another 12-15years before we could even qualify for the FIFA World Cup. But,looking at the way Indian football is being run by AIFF, such apossibility looks a distant dream. The vision and long-term planningis clearly missing and its past track record is a clear proof ofthat.
