Kerala has a chance to revive its footballing fortunes

KOCHI: It's a tournament that has seen the emergence of Ronaldinho, Neymar, James Rodriguez, Cesc Fabregas and Tony Kroos and with FIFA choosing Kochi as a venue for next under-17 World Cup, the future of football will showcase their talent in a year's time in our own backyard.
The U-17 World Cup is also the state's first tryst with a World Cup. Though India has staged multi-discipline events like Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and cricket World Cups, Kerala has never got an opportunity to be associated with it.The U-17 World Cup is going to be one of the biggest sporting extravaganza organized in the country and by being part of it, the state gets an opportunity to revive its own flagging fortunes in Kerala's most popular game.
The passion for the 'beautiful game' hasn't died down nor has it diminished, a fact best exemplified by the capacity turnout for the home matches of Kerala Blasters in the last three seasons of the Indian Super League. But unfortunately, what more than 50,000 fans are rooting for is a team that plays with a Kerala tag and with only a handful of Malayalis in it and has no association with the state's football culture.
"ISL has no doubt reignited the love for football amongst Malayalis. But the U-17 World Cup will be different. There will be quantum leap in the quality of football on display. The tournament is something true football lovers would enjoy," said APM Mohammad Hanish, secretary, sports and nodal officer of the U-17 World Cup in the state.
Being a U-17 World Cup venue guarantees one thing for the state, the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium would transform itself into a top class football stadium complying Fifa standards and Kochi will also have four world class football training facilities in a year's time. And these facilities can be transformed into breeding centres for developing football talent in the state in the future.
"ISL's popularity has seen a lot more kids showing interest in football. It has also resulted in a rise in number of local academies. But the talented ones are not emerging out of these academies or are getting stagnated there. We can develop the training facilities coming up for U-17 World Cup into centralized training schools for kids. By dividing the state into four or five zones, we can pick three or four kids from each zone and give them scientific training at these centralised centres in Kochi. But emphasis must also be given to their education. The onus is on the state government and Kerala Football Association (KFA) to make the most of these facilities being developed for u-17 World Cup," said MM Jacob, former India international and former coach of Kerala team.
"This is a big thing for Kerala football. It will create a positive vibe for the young players, but what happens after this tournament is my concern. The local administrators should ensure that all the facilities which we will get through this mega event is made good use for the betterment of the game,' said former India international IM Vijayan.
But will the state government and KFA rise to the occasion or let it pass? Only time would tell.