Sunday, December 18, at 8.30 p.m. IST Mbappe versus Messi. The world and India are waiting after 63 matches that began on November 20 Football.
The frequently asked question: With 1.3 billion of us, how come we can’t put together a great football team?
Between the years 1950 and 1962, when the sport was at its peak in India, we performed significantly better than we do today. India was reportedly ranked ninth in the world by FIFA a year after it finished fourth at the 1956 Olympics! We are currently 106 out of 211 nations. The fact that this represents a slight improvement from the average ranking of 130 in 1993 is of little consolation.
There are as many as eight nations participating in the World Cup, including Costa Rica, Croatia, and Belgium, all of which have populations that are smaller than Kolkata’s. Why not India, then?
India is not the focus because there isn’t much to focus on. Fans from Kerala to Bengal to Goa take pleasure in supporting Brazil, Argentina, or France from their own perspective. Football is behind: The Men in Blue are more well-known than the All India Football Federation (AIFF), which calls India’s football team the Blue Tigers.
When the World Cup was held in Brazil in 1950, India had no other option but to participate. India chose to participate in the Olympics rather than withdraw. It didn’t have anything to do with not being permitted to play shoeless or lack of subsidizing.
In subsequent years, Rahul Mehra, an advocate based in Delhi, filed a case against the AIFF due to the influence of politics and politicians on Indian sports. He slammed the highest football governing body and demanded to know how it has helped Indian football since independence. That the Association Spending plan for sports has now split the designation for football has not made a difference.
Even though India has the largest sports stadium in the world (Ahmedabad) and the 11th largest football stadium (Salt Lake, Kolkata).
it does not have the infrastructure or facilities necessary to produce players of the highest quality. To spread the word about the sport, we need thousands of regular-sized arenas all over the country; just a few huge stadiums that stand out will not help it grow.
In countries where football is popular, governing bodies and associations are led by former superstars. From Brazil, France, Italy to Poland, Liberia and Hungary, previous players have taken up legislative issues in a single structure or the other and directed their separate country’s fortunes in football. As many as 47% of India’s sports associations and federations are headed by politicians, according to an article published in The Bridge, a portal dedicated to enhancing sports in the country.
From 1988 to 2008, the AIFF was led by the late Congress leader Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi. NCP politician Praful Patel, who served as AIFF president for 14 years before being removed this year by the Supreme Court for failing to hold elections in the federation, took his place. In fact, FIFA revoked the AIFF’s hosting rights for international football tournaments and suspended it for violating its statutes on third-party interference. FIFA restored the hosting rights only after the court reinstated the AIFF management under a newly elected president.
Sports organizations have also been led by non-politicians. Longtime cricket administrator and industrialist Jagmohan Dalmiya improved Indian and international cricket’s fortunes and standards. Can a modern Dalmiya be found to play football?