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Joined July 2014
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I’m going to address some of your points.
Yes, economic growth alone isn’t enough to cultivate a great quality of national football, but the point is that as the middle class grows, it will invariably want more options in terms of recreation and entertainment. You cite low attendance figures of the I-League, but considering the lack of club owned infrastructure, scheduling fixtures too early in the day, etc, I think a 5k average is actually quite ok. With reasonable timing of fixtures, a good marketing strategy, and club-owned infrastructure – I think the I-league can double that average very easily. BTW, MLS was only 15k at one point & the Brazilian Serie A averages around 13K.
You mentioned the lack of Indian footballers in the UK, compared to Caribbean immigrants. These were two very different groups when they came to the UK, in terms of socioeconomic backgrounds etc. They simply did not possess the same aspirations. I could very well ask you why it is that Blacks are underrepresented in academia in the UK. Also, it’s not like Blacks had an easy time entering English football. They had to face similar canards that hound Indians today, like Blacks not being able to play in the cold, and coaches not allowing them to play in the midfield as it’s considered to be the ‘brainier’ part of the field, etc. You don’t think Indians face a similar institutional barrier at present? Watch that documentary with Clarke Carlisle on racism in football, and pay attention to the part with the Indian kids. Also, Indian immigration to the UK was mostly in the 70s, their kids were going to be cricket fans. It’s the 3rd generation that’s going to assimilate, and you can see it now with some emerging Indian talents within the youth systems.
Football isn’t a ‘niche sport’ in India anymore. It was exploding in popularity in the early 2000s and is established enough now to sustain a healthy domestic footballing culture in the big cities. It’s just that the AIFF is a bureaucratic, corrupt, useless organization, that hasn’t done anything to make that happen. The clubs need their own stadiums and have to compete in the AFC competitions. They need to seriously study the Ajax and Barcelona model and come up with their own youth systems. Only then does India stand the slightest chance of ever qualifying for a WC, because right now the quality is just garbage. To address another point, player wages aren’t low at all relative to the quality at which they play. Most of them make about $40k a year, which is decent if you consider their original backgrounds. Some make $100k++.
Yes, you’re right – there are infrastructural problems. But if it changes, domestic football will change.
Is India a future football superpower?