Indian Football has become a proverbial whiteelephant to sports in India. Cricket is essentially the sport that thesubcontinent is most crazy about. But football in India has a history that's aslong and significant as cricket. While the win in the World Cup of 1983 boughthordes of investors to cricket, after the initial euphoria of football in the50’s and 60’s, it has all but dwindled. Football in India is still greatly followedand watched, it just isn’t Indian Football.
Over the course of years, corporates haveplugged money into the sport. There have been big names of the likes ofCoca-Cola and others, that have put money into the sport but have withdrawnsupport due to lack of returns, be it financially or otherwise. That hasn’tkept other corporates like Aircel, Panasonic, Nike,Airtel& Pepsi shy ofinvesting in the sport. However, this investment is ad-hoc and without longterm planning. Fidelis Group in United Sikkim FC, Shahrukh Khan in Dempo SC andAnglian Holdings in ShillongLajong as well as the new entrant, the DodsalGroup, show that interest to invest in Indian football is on the rise, it justneeds to be streamlined and channelized to benefit all stakeholders involved.With other routes for generating money as good as dormant, the concept oforganized football finance is nascent in India.
While football globally has become a corporatebusiness, in India a club is often seen as a status symbol for a tight group ofofficials or family members. And it is not just the one sided financialobligations that's killing the game; the apathy towards the game by its ownorganizers is a more potent factor. Football is still in the world of babudom in India where the supporters'education in professionalism is taken for granted too easily.
The AFC regulations state that a club musthave a principal sponsor in order to be eligible to participate in the AFCumbrella events. Investments have to also be done to shore up audiences,attract the best talent to the game, establish a global brand and befinancially viable. Money in the sport only assures one of merchandising,marketing and television rights, gate sales, ownership of mini-stadium andtraining facilities. This in turn, attracts more people to the game in everycapacity. A steady influx of finances could model football in the country onthe lines of Europe or global standards, where the focus is on the all-rounddevelopment of the game. Only then will grassroots football grow and open upother avenues to finance the clubs. Once the clubs are self-sufficient, willthey become a force to reckon with in the Asian Footballing fraternity and thenwill India lose the garb of being a “cricketing nation”.
Other sports in India like cricket with theIPL, golf and hockey are generating revenues with corporate sponsorships. TheIPL has set up a special purpose vehicle that not only services the game butbrings multiple times the initial investment back into the game. IndianFootball needs similar minded luminaries and connoisseurs to run the game andnot only make it financially sound, but to bring it back to its glory days.With a bit of smart investing, Indian Football can be a force to reckon with onthe global stage, as deserved.
