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Indian Soccer, the Suck That Is
Shawn Sieiro
I'm of Indian origin even though I was born and brought up in Bahrain, a
tiny country nestled in the Arabian Gulf. And growing up as a sport loving
Indian has had its trials and tragedies, from the youth system all the way
up to international sporting events.India has traditionally been, and
continues to be, an underachiever at the world stage, churning out dismal
performances at the Olympics and various World Cups in different sports. In
soccer it fares worse than countries like Uzbekistan and Bahrain! Why this
is happening in a population that has a pool of over a billion to choose
from is beyond most people.
But not me.
The fact is simple - India is bogged down by red tape and an uncaring
population that has been dilated with cricket and field hockey, while
keeping ancient protocols within an aged governing body that is comprised of
a bunch of big headed farts that know everything about the scent of a rupee
but not the soccer pitch.
And it pisses me off.
Why? Because a country like India with its majority well-off middle class
population and enough money to buy Belgium just does not care about sports.
Yes, we give a damn about cricket, but in India, cricket is not a sport,
it's a religion with cricketing 'gods' like Rahul Dravid and Sachin
Tendulkar worshipped on a daily basis. India losing in a cricket World Cup
causes mass riots. India not qualifying for the FIFA World Cup causes...well
nothing.
Currently, according to FIFA rankings, Argentina plays the best football on
this side of the galaxy. India on the other hand, has a better chance of
getting the first elephant into space than winning a soccer game, sitting
rather too comfortably in the 154th position, below a war torn Iraq (70th),
a no name squad in a poor country like Botswana (113th) and way below one of
their greatest cricketing rivals, Australia (43rd). Within the Asian zone,
the Indians don't even figure in the top ten!
In fact, the Indians could learn a lot from the Aussies, since both nations
pride themselves on their ego. The difference is the Australians strive to
do well on the sporting field, simply because this unites the country behind
a common ground and gives Aussies everywhere a chance to brag about
something other than politics and money. Excelling at sports is something
the Aussies tend to whip themselves towards.
India has had its fair share of talent, and I am grouchy because I've played
soccer during my brief vacations to Goa a (south-western province in India)
with some players that could make Cristiano Ronaldo look like a school girl.
I'm as honest as can be when I say that. Goa has some of the best flair
soccer players in India, and our state provides the nation with some amazing
teams from Churchill Brothers to Dempo, and I can safely say that we have
some truly amazing talent coming up through the ranks.
Only to dilute down to waste due to some rather abject administration. The
few that make it obviously move abroad to the Arabian leagues to make better
money and the few amazing talents make it as far as Europe. Baichung Bhutia
made it all the way to Bury [after being courted by Fulham and Aston Villa]
and he improved his game a lot, moving back to Mohun Bagan, the Manchester
United of Indian soccer. Michael Chopra anyone? (On a side note, Chopra was
born and brought up in England and never actually played in India)With it's
huge coffers of cash that is spent in the name of sport, it is an amazing
feat of misgoverning that any natural talent found is not nurtured and
developed let alone encouraged to maximize potential. We have absurd
policies (basing selection on popularity and personal favours rather than
talent) and rather biased selection processes that are geared to feting the
popular teams and persona. Our coaches are garbage, we even still employ the
4-2-4, something that hasn't been seen since the 1962 World Cup! While other
nations continue to develop wide ranging and extensive sport education
academies and school curriculums, we are stuck doing stupid drills and
ineffective cardio workouts that would make the Teletubbies laugh out loud.
Well I for one am not laughing!
Match-fixing and cheating is rife and incompetence and lethargic governing
has given way to an even worse failure as the years go by. Soccer pitches
are poorly managed, soccer teams are not adequately financed and don't even
get me started on availability of equipment. Huge crowds and support in
states like Bengal and Goa have not been converted throughout the nation and
has not been transplanted into a progressive development system. Everything
about soccer in this country screams amateur.
Everything.
And what's even worse, anything remotely encouraging is greeted with
cynicism, ageism and cronyism. Indian soccer continues to wallow in its
pig-pen of suck-ism.
Much can be done. India is NOT poor on the monetary front but the people in
charge of the sport in the country need to rally the troops and advance the
beautiful game. As far as soccer goes, India is an ugly duckling being left
behind and these are sad times indeed. (ENDS)
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/17996-Indian-Soccer-the-Suck-That-Is-160408
Read about Shawn Sieiro at:
http://bleacherreport.com/users/10264-Shawn_Sieiro
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