By Saurav Borah
After making its mark as an Asian powerhouse in the 1950s-60s only to slide deep by the late 1970s, Indian football seems to be on revival mode now if the developments at the domestic level, ever since professional leagues such as I-League and Indian Super League took over, are any indication.
However, the million dollar question — when will India make it to the FIFA World Cup — has not been answered even as dreams revisit and debates continue every four years before and during the quadrennial showpiece.
Ganesh Rai, a former India footballer who was part of the Asian Games 1978 squad, points out that with about 210 soccer-playing nations today vying for slots in the World Cup final round, a country like ours will have to work on a long-term plan to keep pace with the developments made by the Asian powerhouses before even thinking big.
“Indian soccer is moving ahead in the right direction, and thanks to professional leagues, we have seen improvements in various aspects of the game. But World Cup is a different ballgame altogether with only the best four of five Asian powerhouses making the cut. So, our primary goal should be to raise the bar at the Asian level. Besides, a smooth succession plan to ensure players with potential to replace a Sunil Chhetri or a Jeje Lalpekhlua is the need of the hour,” Rai said.
Over the past decade, aspects such as infrastructure, be it stadia or academies, and professional training have significantly improved India’s football standards even as the All India Football Federation had in 1997 incepted the National Football League which was a decade later known as I-League. Academies such as Tata Football Academy and Chandigarh Football Academy have been on the job while AIFF’s Centre for Excellence in Goa too has produced promising footballers, most of who had featured in the Under-17 World Cup hosted by India last year.
“The introduction of the Indian Super League in 2014 (financed by IMG-Reliance, marketing partners of the AIFF) was a shot in the arm as players were rewarded with handsome cash prizes. So much so that many could stay focused on the game without worrying about jobs once they decide to hang up their boots,” he said.
India is currently ranked 97th in the FIFA rankings, which is a substantial climb over the past few years. However, in the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup, India lost seven of the eight matches, including an away match to lesser-known Guam.
Echoing Rai, Meghalaya’s Eugeneson Lyngdoh, who represented ATK in the 2017-18 ISL season, said, “It is going to take a while before India can be a serious contender for the World Cup final round as there is a second rung of Asian teams such as China, Uzbekistan, Thailand and a number of Gulf countries, some of which had been a part of it, standing in its way.”
“The domestic structure across states has to be strengthened while academies have to professional and outcome oriented,” the central midfielder in the Indian team added.
Asked about the low turnouts in domestic leagues such as the Shillong Premier League, Lyngdoh said, “It is time the Shillong Sports Association along with the state government took up a planned approach to attract people to the ground. The standards of professional leagues such as I-League and ISL have gone up several notches while today we have the best of world football on television.”
Former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia too had referred to the need for more Northeast clubs taking part in domestic leagues and tournaments.
“There is a need for more clubs like Shillong Lajong FC so that we have a pool of resources to pick players from,” he had said when he was in Guwahati recently.
This time also, there was some talk about the possibility of India making it to the 2026 World Cup with FIFA contemplating a raise in the number of slots in the World Cup finals to 48 nations.
“That’s wishful thinking. It’s a distant dream. At best, we can hope for wild card entries, like the one when we hosted the Under-17 World Cup last year. We have miles to go before we can match the standards of world football. A system has to be put in place at the grassroots whereby raw talents get access to facilities to hone their skills and make it to the next level,” said Sambhu Mazumdar, a Guwahati-based senior sports journalist.
Lorenzo Pearson Warjri, a former footballer who represented the Meghalaya sub-junior team at Calicut in 1982, however, believes that while one may have sights on the World Cup, which again would take some time, there is an immediate need for developing football in respective zones.
“The country can produce talented footballers if the parent football federation spreads the wings of its organisational setup in five zones — North East, East, South, West and North — giving them the liberty to develop, train and scout talents on their own. Subsequently, the best and second best teams of each zone can lock horns at the national level. This will generate more excitement and help encourage children to take up football in the right spirit,” Warjri said.
He said there is also a need for good administrators in football. “Looking at the ongoing Baby League in Shillong, I see no reason why we cannot produce world-class players in future. The raw talents have to be tapped judiciously and without prejudice, keeping in mind the future standards of Indian football. The administrators and selectors have a key role to play here for sure. There can be no room for politics if soccer has to ascend to the heights we dream of today,” the expert added.
Reflecting on the bygone years, he pointed out, “Till some years back, it appears not much importance was given to football in our country. Even in football-crazy North East, not much attention was given to the game. But thanks to professional leagues and clubs, the scenario is changing for the better.”
All said and done, one thing is clear is that the size of a country does not matter when it comes to not just making it to the World Cup final round but competing with the powerhouses.
A country like Iceland with a population of just about 3,50,000, showed promise and prowess to rub shoulders with the best teams in world soccer.
There is a transition taking place with rank outsiders surprising favourites in the 2018 World Cup and India can take heart from that while working on a comprehensive road map to take them to the final round one day.