-------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Add your name to the CLEAN GOA INITIATIVE | | | | by visiting this link and following the instrucitons therein | | | | http://shire.symonds.net/pipermail/goanet/2005-October/033926.html | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Repackaging the Beautiful Game
By V. M. de Malar Most European imports to India passed through Goa first, before assimilation into subcontinental culture. Imagine our native cuisine without chilies and tomatoes, or our landscape without cashew trees, these came in a cross-cultural bounty that accompanied early European colonial expansion into Asia. There are only a few popular exceptions to this general rule; one is football. The "jogo bonito", the "beautiful game" is a British import popularized by imperial armymen, this hasn't deterred us from enshrining football in the heart of our popular culture, think football in India and you have to think Goa. That's just one very good reason that the relaunching and repackaging of Indian football is taking place right here in Goa. Over the next fortnight, the 27th edition of the storied national Federation Cup will be fought out on our home pitch, it's the first gala event in Zee Sport's very ambitious campaign to rethink the way football is played and marketed in the subcontinent. There is major new investment and a detailed marketing plan, the sports television channel plans to pump millions of dollars into Indian football over the term of its 10-year contract. So, Goa hosts the guinea pig. The Federation Cup is going to be broadcast end-to-end, live, through the next two weeks, and instead of maddeningly antiquated, amateurish, television production we are going to be watching the state-of-the-art. The matches are being covered exactly like top league matches in Europe: twelve cameras on the field, world-class producers at the controls, and a veteran international team of announcers in the booth. Get ready for more of this over the next ten years; it'll completely revolutionize the popularity and understanding of this already successful sport in India. That's not exaggeration. Remember what cricket on Doordarshan used to be like 15 years ago, and recall that sightings of the willow bat in Goa were extremely rare just that recently. Then came the sea change in television coverage of cricket, a tidal wave of technological innovation combined with soaring sums of money in the game. One company, one man, Worldtel's Mark Mascarenhas, suddenly took our enjoyment of cricket out of a sepia-toned time warp, and rocketed it into the satellite age. Our cricket team, the BCCI, the media as a whole, our society's functioning, everything was shaken and affected. It's certain that the whizkids at Zee remember the unlimited pots of gold that were unleashed at that time, and figure that something similar might well happen with football. It's the world's most popular sport, it's certainly a strong second to cricket in India, and the game in India has been in the limited-sponsorship, limited-earnings, doldrums for far too long. If market share can be increased, if merchandising and advertising share can be ramped up, if the right marketing agents can be identified, lightning can indeed strike again as it did with cricket in the course of the last decade. And what better place to launch this 10-year experiment than beautiful, hospitable, football-crazy Goa? Everyone wants to come and spend time here – the players and coaches, the production staff and the mediamen, the Zee people and the football fans alike. We're accepting and tolerant here; we won't even laugh too much at the embarrassingly named (and minimally talented) Zee-bra cheerleading team that was some network executive's half-baked brainwave. It has been a big few days for Goa. The President came and delivered an action plan for Goa, the great Umberto Eco came and walked around Old Goa in the light of a full moon. The official first day of tourist high season brought in a thousand charter tourists directly from Europe. And on these slightly cloudy nights that we've been experiencing, under the bright lights in Fatorda, Goa's traditional favorite game is finally getting a much-needed face-lift for this new millennium. -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT THE AUTHOR: VM is a Goanetter who resettled in Goa while in his mid-thirties. GOANET READER welcomes contributions from its readers, by way of essays, reviews, features and think-pieces. We share quality Goa-related writing among the Goanet family of mailing lists. Please do send in your feedback to the writer. Our writers share their writing pro bono. Goanet Reader welcomes your feedback at goanet@goanet.org and is compiled/edited by Frederick Noronha [EMAIL PROTECTED]