Is it Let’s Bag Jesse Fink Week or something? First there was Les Murray at The World Game gently chiding me for defending Emmanuel Adebayor. Now Davidde Corran at The Roar has let out a very public groan at another one of my impassioned open letters to Pim Verbeek to play Richard Porta.
I’m a sensitive little flower, so please be kind, readers.
But I’m going to lob another verbal hand grenade in the direction of the FFA this week and tell them to get their bloody act together to counter these player raids by Asian clubs. They need to do something, which is better than what they’re currently doing, which is nothing.
Followers of this column will know I’ve written extensively on the subject, so this is not the place rehash all the arguments for why Australian football needs to not only be vigilant but strong in the face of such relentless poaching.
You well know the wheres and whys.
What is new, however, is where the reported interest in Asia is coming from. India is slowly eating away at Australian domestic cricket and it threatens to do the same with domestic football.
The premier Indian domestic football competition, the I-League, whose new season kicks off in October, might be regarded as a joke now, and for all intents and purposes it is.
But FIFA and the AFC have a strong interest in the long-term growth of the game on the subcontinent, the All India Football Federation and I-League are being overhauled in key administrative positions, and the sheer economic windfall that companies stand to make should the game take off means there will never be any shortage of interested parties wanting to make the sport work.
It might take 20 years. It might take 50. But India is going to be a power in football and a smart A-League club should be making connections now – if only ceremonial – with those teams that will emerge as Asian superclubs in the future: Mohun Bagan, Mahindra United, Pune, Dempo and Churchill Brothers.
The prospects of players going to Indian clubs in the short term is minimal, and will likely begin and end with state league players unable to land A-League contracts and wanting a bit of an adventure.
But a shrewd chief executive should see the benefit of looking at someone such as Baichung Bhutia, India’s most capped player who is coming to the end of his career, Nehru Cup hero Subrata Pal or new wonderboy Sunil Chhetri, who was knocked back for a UK work visa and so couldn’t join Queens Park Rangers, who wanted him on a three-year deal.
He’s currently cooling his heels at Dempo in Goa and would undoubtedly relish the prospect of Asian Champions League football with an A-League club. (Dempo was defeated in the playoff for an ACL place by UAE club Al-Sharjah in February.)
A big market. Big exposure. Big commercial prospects. With the possibility of a decent footballer thrown in the mix.
It might all seem a bit fanciful and ambitious, but that’s the whole point of running a business, isn’t it? If the A-League can gain even just a small foothold in Indian football, it’s making a very wise investment in its own future.
Recommend this story.
September 25th 2009 @ 11:44am
Snep said | September 25th 2009 @ 11:44am | Report comment
Even though I-League is still semi Professional in terms for Facilities and Broadcast, they do pay their players huge amount of Money. I have heard that one of the Nigerian Striker got the contract worth 20 million Rupees which comes upto $450,000 per year. Not bad for semi Professional League without much sponsorship and Broadcast revenues.
September 26th 2009 @ 7:32am
Shailesh Karkera said | September 26th 2009 @ 7:32am | Report comment
The name’s Odafe. You will see him in the AFC Cup this year
September 25th 2009 @ 12:25pm
Dave said | September 25th 2009 @ 12:25pm | Report comment
new from India
http://www.indianfootball.com/en/news/articleId/1714
“Mumbai FC struggle to beat the odds
Wednesday, 23. September 2009 – Sujay Sharma
It’s a pity that a club which shares its name with a city like Mumbai is at present mired in crisis so soon after inception.
While the intentions at the start seemed right, and were followed by a dream performance in their maiden I-League appearance, things have unravelled ingloriously and fast since the turn of the year.
Starting with the club’s backers bleeding dry financially; most of their former players not having been paid for months; their recruitment having been restricted to players unwanted by others and very little clue as to who the foreign imports will be, Mumbai FC’s problems are many and varied……”
September 25th 2009 @ 2:28pm
Mike Tuckerman said | September 25th 2009 @ 2:28pm | Report comment
Perhaps Kayne Vincent won’t end up plying his trade in the Indian metropolis after all.
September 25th 2009 @ 12:27pm
Ben of Phnom Penh said | September 25th 2009 @ 12:27pm | Report comment
The A-League needs to make more efforts to engage with the Asian club scene. I particularly like the idea of a cup competition that includes clubs from Indonesia though there is no reason why something similar cannot be contemplated with I-League clubs.
September 25th 2009 @ 1:08pm
chook said | September 25th 2009 @ 1:08pm | Report comment
I know it not the right place for this comment
I was away round 6 and 7 form last season.
Round 6
Crowd av. up by 6.4%
Crowd No. 33.1%
Round 7
Crowd Av. down- 15.7%
Crowd no. up 5.4%
Overall
crowd av. for this time last year down -8.3%
Whilst crowd no. was up 1.2%
After 7 round
41537 more people have watched A-League games than this time last year
Total to date 370,432
MV still have the best crowds 70,300 for the sesaon with av. 17575
Jets have the worst with av. 6357
the 7.30 pm slot still has the best crowds with av. 12567
October 26th 2009 @ 9:50am
M1tch said | October 26th 2009 @ 9:50am | Report comment
2 new teams, you sound like Ben Buckley lol
youd expect crowds to increase in total..
its the average per game that dropped
September 25th 2009 @ 4:45pm
Midfielder said | September 25th 2009 @ 4:45pm | Report comment
Jes
Re everyone picking on you … don’t worry if …
On other matters about Asia in general and India in particular…
Asia is where everybody is heading … it is bank rolling the Australian economy …it is paying for the A-League .. lets be honest without Asia .. no Clive Palmer…no Fury … no Commonwealth Gov money … no state gov paying for Socceroos to play in capital cities… no Asia cup … no world cup qualifying process … no sporting contact with the Middle East … So Jes could not agree more pertaining to engagement between clubs … some are BTW …. Regards player protection hard to do and stay within ACL rules … the thing to do is to see if they could break the Fox contract … or have it re newed to get some decent funds in to protect it as 1 million per team when we have 12, and less when we go to 14… Out rate the Super 14…. Socceroos smash the Union …. but stuck for four more years on 17 million…
India in particular … I can recall JW saying once that the poorest people in India where football folk But they had so little influence they where kinda ignored… But you are right as you wrote once a long time back when you were with Fox … when the get an EPL player it will pick a huge pace… Remember D York of West Indies fame … was a home town boy along with Brain Lara …. Look at the WI today … not saying it will be like that in India more how the EPL effects the Indians as they watch the EPL ….
September 25th 2009 @ 5:41pm
Snep said | September 25th 2009 @ 5:41pm | Report comment
Its not a bad idea afterall to recruit few Indian Players for A-league. That would give A-League clubs handful of fans from billion population which in turn might open up whole new dimensions of Football Business in World most promosing Economy.. It is very fanciful and ambitious as Jesse has put it but its worth trying I reckon.
September 25th 2009 @ 9:11pm
dasilva said | September 25th 2009 @ 9:11pm | Report comment
Jesse
Maybe you are just joking but really, none of those articles were bagging you. The only thing they say was they disagreed with your opinion.
If you think that’s bagging then you are one very sensitive fella
September 25th 2009 @ 11:03pm
clash said | September 25th 2009 @ 11:03pm | Report comment
would our heads turn to A-league if we have some of our players there? Yes! there is quite a bit of following for football in India and quite a bit of footballers.
the “indian friend’s claim” is bogus and he doesnt have an idea about the religious followers of Indian football and Indian footballers.
yes, it would take time for football to catch up but there is tremendous potential. the urban population is very much in to football because EPL throng in to their drawing rooms, but to get them to love our football is going to take some time but it will eventually happen.
currently our league is rickety and attendance is dismal but there is considerable interest for the game in some pockets of the country.
I dont think i-league will be a sought after option for a-league players but if some of our players happen to be in a-league there will be considerable interest about a-league in India. i suppose it could open up scenarios for better partnerships. currently no in India bothers about a-league but that could change!
October 3rd 2009 @ 12:11am
Abhishek said | October 3rd 2009 @ 12:11am | Report comment
Indian football is definitely on the rise. In fact we do have a player from Adelaide City, Keegan Nash here this season. And he is playing for the smallest club in the 1st division!
Do check out http://www.indianfootball.com for further information.
Cheers