My League

But before the frogs with studs plan their jump out of the well, it will be advisable to check the harsh reality of the outside world. It would be a little foolhardy to already compare the I-League with the European club structure. Even aiming to match up to the highly successful formats in Asia would expose one’s naivety. But sticking to Asia and Australia, one can learn a few lessons from similar long-running league structures. AIFF can compare notes with Japan and Korea to see what they did right and avoid the deeds of officials in Malaysia, where the professional league concept bombed.

Anyhow, the optimism about I-League comes with a few riders. The change wouldn’t come overnight, and those doubting the new fully pro setup also need to be heard. On the bright side, the I-League has collaboration with both FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation, besides tie-ups with DFL, the owners of the German Bundesliga, Brazilian soccer conglomerate Clube dos 13 and the Portuguese federation. The global interest in Indian football has even enticed several major corporate houses to jump on the soccer bandwagon. “It is our dream project that will take shape in a phased manner over the next 10 years,” says Alberto Colaco, general secretary of the AIFF.

And in case one still gets a ‘heard this before’ feel, the sentiment isn’t uncalled for as AIFF’s attempt to make the league semi-professional in 1996 failed to flog the sagging stocks of Indian football. Savio Messias, general secretary of Goa Football Association calls the rebranding of Indian football as nothing but ‘old wine served in a new bottle’. “I-League is not any different from the National Football League (NFL). Eleven years back when the NFL kicked-off, it was meant to improve the standard of the game. But our ranking has spiralled down to 162, the fans have disappeared, infrastructure has remained static, the quality has further deteriorated and worse still, there is no hike in prize money. The AIFF has a lot of questions to address before selling this dream of football revolution,” he warns.

Like Messias, there are several people in Malaysia who have similar views about their football despite the fact that they have a professional league since 2004. The Malaysian case study is important since it happens to be a replica of India in terms of club structure. Clubs depend on obscure foreign players, while locals have been little more than mere extras. The quality remains pedestrian. They are 154th in the FIFA rankings — just eight places above India. Of the ten top goal-scorers in the Malaysian Super League (MSL) for the 2006 season, there was only one local player. The NFL in India has been no different; it has not seen an Indian top-scorer since Raman Vijayan in 1997-98. Henry Menezes, the general manager of the Essel Group promoted Mumbai FC, says this is a problem that the AIFF needs to look at. “We have a huge demand-supply gap when it comes to players. We have just got a pool of 40-odd quality players to pick from and there are 10 teams at the top level. That is why we have to look to foreigners,” says Menezes.

A frequent change in format has been another reason for MSL’s failure. In the last three years the league format has changed twice and that has meant that clubs haven’t been able to settle down. Colaco, however, assures that pro-league in India won’t resort to a massive overhaul but also adds that flexibility won’t be compromised. “We have a concrete plan for the pro league and it has been circulated to the clubs and the state associations. But there will be reviews in the middle and at the end of the pro league every year. If there are areas we can work on, we will make those adjustments,” he added.

If Malaysia is a ‘what not to do’ example; Japan, Korea and Australia are the pro league’s success stories. The advent of pro-league in 1994 propelled Japan to the legion of regional power houses and took them to that prized appearance in a World Cup; the Socceroos, who introduced A-league in 2004, gave eventual world champions Italy a run for their money in 2006, while South Korea’s K-league had a big role to play in them reaching the 2002 World Cup semis.

The Australian A-League introduced the franchise system to have a holistic appeal around the country. The league is contested by seven teams covering all major cities and remote regions. To give the league a competitive edge, they invited neighbours and arch sporting rivals New Zealand to enter a team. That is something similar to what Iran has adopted. The Persian Gulf Cup started with the aim of taking the sport to all parts of the country and today, its top stars are from areas that were not traditionally associated with football.

In India top clubs are still confined to pockets — Goa, Mumbai, Kolkata, Kerala and the north eastern states. Except for the first three, other football regions don’t have an organised base. In southern India, after FC Kochi’s disintegration, the fragile hopes now rest with Viva Kerala. But the north east, despite being India’s assembly line of top quality players, doesn’t have a club in the NFL. The general-secretary of Assam Football Association Ankur Dutta is desperate for some support from the AIFF. “They should help us in building teams who can compete in the pro-league. Being a home-and-away affair, once top teams start playing here, public interest will grow and that will interest corporate houses. But to start, the AIFF has to help,” he says.

Menezes understands this and stresses that clubs with a regional identity can help leagues survive. “Corporate backing can get them running but it is fan support that keeps a club going. The commercial value of I-league will grow only if the fan base swells,” he says.

Korea proves Menezes’s point. The K-League had a number of top league clubs that were owned by major Korean corporate bodies and the club names reflected that. But at present, the teams have adopted local city names in an effort to integrate themselves with the local communities. Example: Daewoo changed to Daewoo Royals to Busan Daewoo Royals to Busan I’cons and finally Busan I’park.

There is an overwhelming feeling around that despite the slippery road ahead, a pro league is the only way out for the AIFF. “The foundation of a professional league is central to the development of football. A strong league will strengthen a national team. This is clearly illustrated by the progression of Japanese football. All of Japan’s stars, such as Celtic playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura, have developed into world-class players because of the J-league,” he says.

Colaco, meanwhile, thinks that I-League can completely transform the game in the country. “The league will lead to better facilities, better training and preparation of players, better organisation and revenues. This will lead to a better national team. The revenues generated will percolate to development in other areas,” he said.

But before one gets carried away, a word of caution. And that’s where national coach Bob Houghton, an original outsider, but an insider now, comes in. “It’s critical to stick to norms that you set up, otherwise there is no point. If you continue to relax conditions then the whole purpose of a pro-league will fall flat. Even if that means lesser teams. But relaxation has never taken any team any where. For India, the time is now,” he says.