Is football in India on the rise? India skipper Baichung Bhutia avoids committing himself but does offer a lengthy opinion of what is necessary to improve the game in the country. Baichung, who could not be a part of the Indian squad for the SAFF soccer tournament curently underway at Dhaka due to an injury was present in the capital today for the inauguration of the ESPN Premier Junior League — an inter-school football tournament that kicked off at Nehru Stadium here today.Appreciating the initiative, Baichung said, “such tournaments are very helpful to attract the youngsters to the game. And the more such meets take place the better it is for the sport.” But, this is just the first step on a long and strenous journey ahead.“The need of the hour is a professional attitude and proper upgradation of the basic training facilities at the grass root level,” he said. And added that, “A scientific approach should be there taking care of the all-round development of the game.“India doesnot lack in talent. But to groom someone into a champion a lot of things have to change. And the approach of the football administrators comes in first.”Baichung blamed the entire system for lacking proper infrastructure, quality training, improved facilities, fitness and sponsorship. He however admitted that there was enough money at the domestic level but they are not channelised in the right direction. “Compared to any other sports, including cricket, there is huge money in the national level tournaments in football. The need is for proper utilisation of these resources and the focus should be to groom young and budding prospects.”Baichung also said that there was a general lack of quality coaches in the country who have an awareness of the demands at the international level. However, the present Indian coach Stephen Constantine is an exception and “he is the one who has been instrumental in India’s good show in international tournaments abroad off late. The LG Cup victory in Vietnam was the high-point in Indian football for many years”.But, despite such drawbacks Baichung said that the standard of the National Football League has shown immense improvement in the last four years since he left for Bury FC four years ago. He attributed this improvement to the inclusion of more foreign players and the highly talented young Indian brigade on the horizon. The Indian skipper also felt that should there be less pressure on these youngsters to perform from the first match onards they will show even much better results.“When a young footballer joins a big club like Mohun Bagan or East Bengal he is under constant pressure to perform. If he fails in a single game he mostly sits on the bench for the rest of the season and joins a lowly placed club the next year. This way of things is also hampering the growth of many footballers and they fade early.”Indian soccer is certainly on the bend but it has miles to go feels Baichung and many of the game’s followers too.
