December 28 : While India did reasonably well in team sports such as hockey and cricket in 2015 , it’s not the same with football . It had been a hugely disappointing year for Indian football . It has been a year to forget on field and as well off it. The national team failed miserably in the World Cup qualifiers while the administrators did little to make things better with a lack of effort and direction.
As absurd and pointless as it may sound, but those following its growth or rather the lack of it, would know how relieving it would be to bid adieu to one of the most disappointing years for India in the sport.
Let’s not even go into the performance of the national team, which has been even below its usual mediocre standards but corporate entities practically ‘taking over’ the football administration has been more annoying.
The latest impact of this was felt by the national team, just ahead of their 2018 World Cup qualifiers (away) against Oman and Turkmenistan in September, when Indian Super League (ISL) teams refused to release players for a national camp.
National team coach Stephen Constantine, was dragged into a verbal war with the AIFF president Praful Patel . The Briton who came in for his second stint in India in January, had no choice but to rue the lack of direction and effort on the part of the All India Football Federation (AIFF). “Is it that difficult to sync your calendar? It’s not when you’ve the development of the game (as target). It is when you’re thinking about TV ratings. It’s not possible that a TV station can tell us when we can start our season. If we do not change, Indian football will die.”
Instead of addressing the national team coach’s concerns, AIFF president Praful Patel suggested Mr Constantine to keep quite . “Mr Constantine is not the custodian of Indian football. He is the custodian of the Indian national team. Please don’t listen to everything that the coach says,” he said.
The impact of such open verbal war between people running the sport was there for all to see. India lost five out of their six matches in the World Cup qualifiers, winning just one against Guam. The same opponents, the smallest Asian Football Confederation (AFC) country, however defeated India 2-1 in an away tie.
If this was not enough, three I-League teams – Pune FC, Kalyani Bharat FC and Royal Wahingdoh – chose to withdraw from the league citing lack of any financial roadmap for teams as the main reason for their decision. This was in sharp contrast to the extended ‘help’ that the ISL teams get in keeping their players at the cost of the national team.
It was not only the teams that suffered but the fans too . Federation Cup considered to be the premier club tournament of the country even an year before was discontinued.The cramped football calendar was seen as a major reason, while AIFF conveniently chose to ignore that it was the ISL that affected such a decision .
Such depressing incidents shrouded the faint silver lining in the game. Sunil Chhetri became the first Indian to score more than 50 international goals while the India U-16 team impressed with its victories against Lebanon and Bahrain in the AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers. True critics might point out the national team finished the year ranked #166 in FIFA rankings , compared to #171 last year , but it is not a true reflection of the state Indian football is passing through