A Different Ball Game: Smaller tournaments can shape football positively

IN THE LAST few months, Indian football has been in the news for the wrong reasons. First, the nation’s top-tier league did not start and there was uncertainty over whether it will happen at all. While we now have clarity that it will happen, the shape or form it will take is still uncertain. In the real sense, the sport had come to a standstill in the country and footballers, men and women, were understandably depressed and confused.

Against this backdrop, the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour to India was an event of interest. More so when the sports minister announced the support of Coca-Cola India for India’s U-17 women’s football team for three years. The team, which has already qualified for the Asian Cup, will now be in Turkey soon for preparation and thereafter, play a series of games in Australia ahead of the competition. The All India Football Federation (AIFF), sources say, will soon be announcing a world-renowned head coach for the team, a move that is expected to give a big fillip to women’s football in the country.

Speaking on the Coca-Cola support, Kalyan Chaubey, president of AIFF, said, “It augurs well for the sport. To have a leading brand associated with the U-17 team will help AIFF give them the best facilities to train and be ready. In all earnestness, they have a huge opportunity in front of them and our endeavour will be to help them be the best prepared for the competition.” If support for women’s football was the first piece of good news, the second interesting development was staged in Burdwan, a town about 100km from Kolkata. For the last one week, Burdwan hosted the Bhadreshwar Gold Cup in football, a tournament that pitted the best of clubs vying for honours.

Well-organised, the competition was watched by thousands who normally don’t get to see the best of Indian football in action.

 “Most players grabbed the opportunity to play in the competition with ISL still some time away. The tournament, in some sense, got the footballers ready for ISL. In fact, tournaments like these could well be the future of Indian football for they tap into the passion for the sport in the suburbs,” said former India international Pritam Kotal.

 “It is not just about hosting the tournament. It is also about uniting the local community and getting them to come and watch the games. The tournament concluded with a Mohun Bagan versus East Bengal friendly football match and it evoked huge interest among the local population,” said Parthy Nandy, the key organiser of the event.

In the absence of national-level tournaments, local competitions like these can make a major difference to Indian football. Be it the Bengal Super League or the Bhadreshwar Gold Cup or the Kerala Super League where the average attendance is no less than 25,000 per game, these efforts are indication that there are serious takers for the game in India. For the fans in the suburbs or smaller towns, top-flight action is still rare, and hence the craving to consume good football is real. More of these competitions mean these feeder tournaments could soon start to throw up real talent for Indian football.

In the words of Brazilian World Cup winner Gilberto Silva, who was in India with the FIFA trophy, “It is not always about resources when it comes to football. It is also about the passion. The love for the game and the determination to do well. If you want to excel, you will find ways. The Indian U-17 girls are an example. In Brazil, we grew up underprivileged, but never did we want to give up on our dreams. Play more tournaments.” Smaller tournaments, which are watched by thousands, can be India’s answer to developing the game. That’s where talent can be spotted and with a harnessing system in place, the better players can then be co-opted for training camps and development academies.

As I watched the live telecast of the Bhadreshwar Gold Cup final, I felt a sense of optimism. I felt the same seeing India’s U-17 women players interact with Gilberto Silva. Not everything is doom and gloom and there are these pockets of hope that can keep the sport going in India.