Sleeping Giant — Hidden Football

In 2007, on a visit to India, former FIFA president Sepp Blatter famously diagnosed the country as a ‘sleeping giant’ when it comes to its footballing status and potential. Despite my criticism of Blatter and his destructive, selfish ways, I couldn’t help but agree with him, as it was in fact this same observation and resulting curiosity that led me to begin this project.

Keen to dig deeper into why India holds this status, and more importantly, what can be done to awaken the giant from its slumber, I was lucky enough to be introduced to Anjali Shah from the All India Football Federation (AIFF). Anjali is the co-founder of the Premier India Football Academy (PIFA), as well as being a Director and Board Member at the AIFF, and has been involved in a wide range of projects across the spectrum of football in India.

I travelled again to South Mumbai’s Cooperage stadium, (following my visit earlier that week for the Mumbai Strikers game), where Anjali had agreed to meet me before the afternoon’s match kicked off. En route we managed to get lost multiple times, the taxi driver having no knowledge of Cooperage, and stopping at any ramshackle football pitch he could find in the hope it was my destination.

It struck me as odd that a taxi driver would not have even heard of one of the city’s oldest and most traditional football stadiums (could you imagine a Mancunian cabbie looking blankly when you asked for Old Trafford?), but then I came to my senses. If it had been the Wankhede Cricket Stadium I was after, I’m sure we’d have got there in a flash.

Arriving at the stadium (again, with no sign of an imminent football match), I was ushered into the Mumbai District Football Association’s Cooperage office. Trophies, jerseys and footballs filled the room, and before we began our discussion Anjali sadly informed me that the afternoon’s game had been cancelled.

‘You know how it is sometimes, with the end of the tax year and all’, Anjali began, not expecting the confusion that was clearly evident across my face. Air India, one of the two teams today, had to forfeit the match due to lack of players.

‘Most of the Air India team are accountants and finance guys’, Anjali explained. ‘Today is the end of India’s tax year, and apparently they’re far too busy to spare the time to come and play’.

Despite having being involved in many cancelled games over the years (most due to moderately cold and frozen / boggy British sunday morning pitches), this was undoubtedly a first in my experience. It reminded me of school days, when you’d been given permission to leave the classroom early to travel to an away fixture, but your stubborn (football-hating) history teacher decided that Henry VIII’s antics were far more important than me getting a proper warm up in. Despite the stark contrast in scenarios (this was after all, the Super Division of a semi-professional football league), I felt a pang of empathy with those Air India players sweating over their tax returns.

The Air India team – one of the highest flying in the MDFA… grounded due to tax returns.

The silver lining was that this gave us even longer to speak, and Anjali began by talking me through the MDFA (325 adult teams, 430 junior teams, the biggest city football league in India), the PIFA (academy based football ecosystem), and the AIFF (governing body of the game in India). It seemed Indian football, like the rest of the world, was not short of football acronyms, but I was interested in how these all fitted together in the bigger picture of the national game.

‘By 2025, 50% of India’s population will be under 25’, Anjali stated, discussing the huge opportunity this presents for everyone involved in both the Indian and global game. This is true both from a purely footballing standpoint (looking at talent development) and the wider impact this could have on the football industry (the growing ‘market’ for the game).

Anjali emphasised the importance of getting this balance right when considering the future of Indian football, and we discussed the role that Western / established football industries might play as India awakens from its sleep.

‘There are lots of models and approaches, and many have tried to come to India to get involved in search of a quick buck.’ Anjali cited the example of Manchester United arriving in India and setting up camps, lasting only 2 years before calling it a day. Arsenal and Barcelona have approached things similarly in Mumbai, with other clubs repeating the formula all over India, using the ‘promotion of Indian football’ as an opportunity to make revenue from middle and upper class families, sending their children to training camps and junior teams.

Is playing ‘The Liverpool way’ good for the development of ‘The Indian way’?

‘It’s great that children are getting to play – but these are the children who would already have had opportunities and facilities. Also the prices are expensive – a 3 month football camp would cost the same as a typical middle class family’s 12 month expendable income – it’s not sustainable, and it’s not tapping into the real opportunity to develop talent and change lives’.

Initially shocked at the conduct of the European giants, very quickly it became clear why they were here in the first place, and why so many were working ineffectively in India. Indian fans have a ‘long distance relationship with European football’, and the stats suggest there is undoubtedly a market there, which some are clearly attempting to exploit.

‘Real Madrid has more fans in India than in Spain’, Anjali noted, ‘and there are fanatic fans of all the big European teams around the country. It’s good to spread this message and to show the fan culture we have, but it is not what will define Indian football forever. The image has to change and evolve’.

It seemed that ‘dragging and dropping’ models that work in Western Europe for short term gain was not the way forward, and Anjali suggested there were better relationships to be formed. ‘What I want you to put out there in the UK’, she requested, ‘is that to work in Indian football is to sow seeds for long term development of opportunity. We’ve been doing this for years. Don’t just come in and try and tell us how to do it – let’s work together’.

Although external, international forces may have a part to play in India’s growth, internally there are similar numbers of stakeholders, all approaching things slightly differently. Anjali felt that striking this balance was the real key to success, and the route to a narrative and identity for Indian football.

‘It’s about doing it the Indian way’, she stated boldly. ‘Learn and collaborate with others, yes, but ultimately it’s about doing it our way. Trying to use other models here is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole’. However, doing things ‘the Indian way’ is by no means a smooth ride, and Anjali outlined the significant forces at play.

‘The Indian Super League (ISL), has not been around that long, but has established an entertainment model’, she said, explaining the cost implications of entering and maintaining a team in this new league structure. Drawing comparisons with the Indian Premier League cricket tournament (the star studded, big money, world-leading force in the sport), and ever-growing English Premier League (the global money-fuelled phenomenon that it is), the question remains – is this the right way forward for Indian football?

‘It’s certainly not of interest for the I-League teams’, Anjali noted. ‘They have an existing fan base and a proud history, why should they tear all that up and jump ship?’ The I-League, India’s longstanding domestic competition, has stayed separate from the ISL, but many of the players have followed the money and rapid growth of the new league. This leaves Indian football in a peculiar position, with increasing pressure to ‘corporate-ise in order to succeed’.

The battle ground in Indian football – will they merge, or continue to compete?

‘Money is useless without expertise’, Anjali noted, as she pondered how quickly (if at all), Indian football should move into the corporate world. This clash between tradition and money-fuelled growth is surely one all English fans can empathise with – you only have to look at the stories of Queens Park Rangers, Chelsea and Manchester City (to name just three) in the last decade to see evidence of footballing tradition coming into conflict with capitalist priorities.

Whatever the approach, and whoever is funding or organising it, Anjali was keen to stress the importance of outcomes. ‘It’s crucial to provide a clear pathway for people to get involved in the game, and for the game itself to grow’, she said.

Using a quite literal metaphor, she suggested ‘at the moment, it’s like a game of football with 500 players on a mud turf. There’s no clarity, no roadmap.’

‘The interest and numbers are there, but it needs to settle, be organised properly, and build real connections to succeed’.

Metaphor brought to life – how does India improve its pathway to playing and building the game?

As we concluded the meeting, I asked Anjali what she thought it would take to propel India to the position it deserves in world football. Despite acknowledging it was never down to one factor (but after I pushed her for a soundbite answer), she delivered in fine style.

‘All we need is one Indian to play in the EPL. Despite how much they love the foreign players and clubs, to have an Indian, someone they can empathise with and understand, playing on the world stage would be huge. This would be a short term win, but would inspire a generation’

As we packed up our things, Anjali cited the famous Blatter quote, suggesting India was soon to wake from its footballing slumber. Upon further research, I found that Blatter had provided a follow up to his prediction, on a later visit to India:

‘To wake up a sleeping giant you need more than one alarm clock. We have put a lot of alarm clocks there. I am pleased to announce the giant is no longer sleeping’

His words frame both this conversation and the bigger picture challenges facing Indian football quite effectively (as much as it pains me to admit it). How many ‘alarm clocks’ does the giant actually need, who’s paying for them, and who decides when the alarms will go off?

Blatter was the victim of a Lee Nelson cash-throwing stunt in 2015… enough to buy more alarm clocks for India?