Go Ahead Shilpa, Indian Football Needs The Glamour

The Media. Flashing Lights. Cocktail Parties. Celebrities. Oh, and a little bit of cricket as well. This is The IndianPremier League or the IPL as it is commonly referred to, that has taken our country by storm. 

The brainchild of a certain Lalit Modi, it is one of the biggest sporting ventures in the world and is touted by the organizers to even topple the English Premier Leaguein no time. It has it all – money, drama, action, cheerleaders, everything to make this cricketing affair a lot more for the non-cricket enthusiasts. 
 
Now imagine this. It's the East Bengal Tigers vs Mahindra United Rhinos (Or something). The venue - the Salt Lake Stadium, with a packed crowd of over a hundred thousand people shouting incessantly at every blow of the referees whistle as the cheerleaders light up the various makeshift stages with their sexy curves and groovy moves. 

The game is pegged at 1-1 with just three minutes to go. East Bengal Tigers get a free kick. Their star man steps up. He places the ball delicately on the wonderful new pitches provided by the owners. He measures his run, lines up the shot, and BANG! DAVID BECKHAM has won it for the East Bengal Tigers in the dying minutes of the game! 
 
Sounds like a fantasy right? 

Well, if recent sources are to be believed this, or something similar to it, could very soon turn into reality. NRI Business tycoon Raj Kundra and his Bollywood actress wife Shilpa Shetty are apparently keen to kick-start (no pun intended) an ‘Indian Football League’ of sorts, parallel to the IPL, to take the sport in our country to even greater heights.  

In a cricket-crazy nation, one might wonder whether such a venture can really catch on big time. But my count is, it most definitely will! Why? Simply because once glamour and entertainment is attached to football, it gives it that ‘X-Factor’ of sorts, that can really make it work.  

Let me give you an ideal example. Ranji Trophy Cricket in India has been in existence for more than 50 years now. The Ranji Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between different city and state sides, much similar to the IPL. Yet, the IPL has garnered far more attention from all of us in its three years than the Ranji Trophy probably ever has!

The format of the competitions are similar. Both involve one state playing another. Then why such a huge difference?  Its simple, refer to the opening lines. 

The I-league in India is the football equivalent of the Ranji Trophy. You have various sides from different parts of the country playing against one another to determine the ultimate winner.

However, the infrastructure is very poor. The playing conditions at some places are not fit for a national league. The training methods are not in sync with the rest of the world, and in all, it’s a tad boring to a majority of our population, who refuse to watch it.

With the introduction of an IPL-style league, everything could change. For starters, money will begin to flow in, and team owners will make sure that their franchises have access to better infrastructure. And with better infrastructure, comes better talent, and far more attractive football. It’s a positive loop.

And with the kind of influence our nations’ big shots have acquired, big name footballers like David Villa, David Beckham, Fernando Torres, etc might just be tempted to come down to India for a while to play in the league, and become some of the names that we start associating our local clubs with. 

Indian Football deserves that boost. Why must a nation of more than a billion people have just one sport to be crazy about? The whole world watches football! The FIFA World Cup is one of the biggest sporting events on our planet. Yet our country has not featured in it for light years now.

What Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty are doing is also potentially setting up the country for greater things in the future. As India Football Coach Bob Houghton recently mentioned in an interview, India have vast potential but zero resources. Now imagine providing that vast potential with maximum resources. It surely will make an impact now, wouldn’t it? 

After all, even if we don’t like the sport, we still like the hundred odd things that surround it. 

Hope the BCCI is listening!


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