BackIndian Super League looks to revolutionizing football in India
The forthcoming two-month tournament is the latest attempt to popularize the world's most-watched sport in India
Premium
The Indian Super League (ISL) football tournament has got off to a good start. Launched by IMG Reliance—a joint venture between Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd and IMG, a global sports, fashion and media business—and Rupert Murdoch’s Star India Pvt. Ltd in partnership with the All India Football Federation, it has secured the backing of some big names, ranging from industrialists to Bollywood and sports stars and cricket celebrities. These include cricket icons Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, besides Bollywood stars John Abraham and Salman Khan.
Team owners of ISL on 12 April said the tournament could see the start of a movement that could revolutionize football in India.
India has had a long history of domestic club football, underpinned by passionate and large fan clubs, particularly in West Bengal, Goa, Punjab and Kerala. And there have been some noteworthy performances by the national team in the 1950s and 1960s on the international stage. Starting out with fielding poorly equipped footballers playing barefoot in the 1948 Olympics, the Indian team gave its best performance in 1956 when it took the fourth place in the Melbourne Olympics, beating fancied opponents such as Australia.
But India’s recent record has been pathetic. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association, the international governing body of football, ranks India 145th among 207 soccer-playing nations.
The forthcoming two-month tournament is the latest attempt to popularize the world’s most-watched sport in India.
ISL is modelled after the Indian Premier League (IPL), the two-month-long Twenty20 cricket tournament. IPL franchises are owned by Bollywood celebrities, and industrialists who have managed to attract the best cricketers from around the world by offering lucrative contracts.
But unlike in cricket, the stars backing the new league will not find it easy to make football popular once again and ISL a grand success. One such challenge is timing. The Indian league is likely to be played from September to November, just when some of the world’s top soccer leagues are in action, which means ISL is unlikely to attract many international football stars.
The English Premier League, the world’s top football league, usually starts in August and ends in May the following year; Argentine Primera División also starts in August; Brazil’s Campeonato Brasileiro Série this year runs from April to December and the AFC (Asian Football Club) Champions League from 29 January to 1 November.
So the success of the tournament, to an extent, may well depend on the ability of its celebrity backers to pull crowds.
Another challenge for team owners would be to pick up the nuances of football and to manage their teams. Nevertheless, with their deep pockets, one can expect the owners to help take the game to the next level in India.
What experts say:
Involve all stakeholders
Viren Rasquinha, former captain of the Indian hockey team and chief executive officer of Olympic Gold Quest, a non-profit body which promotes sports in India
It is great that many high-profile owners have come on board to support football in the country which is no doubt a mass sport. The Indian Super League (ISL) is obviously a potentially attractive package, but there are going to be a number of challenges as well. One is the entire financial model of the league. Franchise owners at the end of day need to do something to ensure that it is financially feasible, if not in the first few years then at least over a period of time. Owners should also look at returns, which will not always be monetary in nature.
The league also has to ensure that the quality of Indian football, especially that of youth football, is raised in the country. The I-League has failed to improve this quality, but hopefully ISL will do that even though it would be a challenge considering that the tournament is played just over two months in a year.
What the franchise owners can learn from the Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket tournament and other similar leagues is that it is necessary to involve all the stakeholders to ensure the success of ISL. For instance, it is important for the broadcaster to have a world-class production facility so that it can do a good job in putting up a world-class package on television.
We also saw that few franchise owners did not do a good job in promoting their team in the home city. They failed to create any buzz that could have driven crowds to the stadium. Franchise owners need to work hard at the ground level. They should put up an excellent operations team in place and deal with infrastructure issues, and ensure that the quality of the ground is maintained to play the sport. They should also have a strong junior programme in place to nurture talent.
Franchise owners should also ensure that there should be a team effort in ensuring the success of ISL. They should bring together all other team owners, the broadcasters, the football federation, etc., to improve the quality of the game and market the game locally.
Although not many of these franchise owners have any background in playing soccer, it should not be an issue. It is not necessary that you should have played football at highest level to run a team. All that one needs is to love the sport and have passion for same, and also understand the business to ensure it remains financially viable. AS TOLD TO SUNIL B.S.
Popularity is a challenge
Sunando Dhar, chief executive officer of I-League, a premier football tournament organized by the All India Football Federation
I think one major difference between football and other sports like cricket and hockey is that these sports do not have a club culture like football. And that culture has a big audience in India that watches other leagues like the English Premier League and La Liga. We want that audience to now watch Indian football. That transition needs star power and money.
However, there have been limited funds and we need money and star power in football as one of the biggest challenges we face is popularity. We are only popular in few pockets of Kolkata, Goa and the North-East, and spreading the game is a challenge. We have brought in more teams from Kochi, Mumbai and have tied up with JSW Group to bring in a team.
Another big challenge a venture such as the Indian Super League (ISL) can solve is the infrastructure challenge. Events like the under-17 World Cup and ISL will have a trickle-down effect on Indian football. However, leadership and passion will be crucial as the clubs will need three-four years to be fully established.
I don’t think many of the franchises in the Indian Premier League have made money. One will need passion and business sense to succeed. And anywhere in the world, if you introduce a new format or new tournament, you need to back it with star power initially, but at the end of the day, the quality of the game and players matter.
As far as the controversy surrounding the Twenty20 cricket league is concerned, I doubt it will be a problem here as rules in football are specific and straight put out by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, unlike in cricket. AS TOLD TO ZAHRA KHAN
High-quality product needed
V.K. Madhav Mohan, a mentor to various corporations and author of “Lonely At The Top", a book on leadership
The Indian Super League (ISL), a football tournament modelled after the popular Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket championship, needs to be packaged, marketed and accepted by people.
Only then can it attract sustainable interest, popularity and support, says V.K. Madhav Mohan, a former adviser to Rotary International who has mentored companies including UPL Ltd (formerly United Phosphorus Ltd).
“The fans must be offered a much more polished, high-quality product than has been available in India till now," he says.
Second, football is already hugely popular in India. There is a substantial fan following for the English Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga , the UEFA Europe League and CONCACAF Champions League, not to mention the Fifa World Cup.
So Indian fans are used to world-class football. If the football on display at ISL in India is of a sufficiently high technical standard, then the league will take off. This means that the technical skills on view must be a treat to fans already used to the skills of major global league teams. The trapping, dribbling, speed, passing, positional play, tackling and goal scoring must all bear a reasonable resemblance to the major leagues.
Third, the Indian soccer fan base has traditionally been let down by the administration and its “pathetic efforts" at improving quality. There is a tremendous yearning to see Indian players make the international cut. So ISL must import the best training methods, talent scouting systems, coaches with a proven international track record and equipment, along with quality players.
Indian players with talent who train and play alongside these imported players are bound to improve by leaps and bounds. These players can then be the nucleus around which the Indian national team can be built. Indian fans would love nothing more than to see the Indian team make progress globally.
Fourth, ISL must ensure that soccer is treated as a professional industry with lucrative fees and income for players, officials, referees, coaches, trainers, doctors, nutritionists and support staff. The entire Indian football fraternity must be able to earn a handsome living from the game. So, the ISL adventure will have to be viewed as a capital expenditure with a three- to five-year payback. AS TOLD TO P.R. SANJAI
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
