Indian football
finally got the roadmap from AFC and progress seemingly an inevitable part if AIFF
can follow the roadmap properly. Instead of I-League, Indian Super League (ISL)
will be regarded as the major and top league of the country. Now on the
champion team of ISL shall also be entitled to participate in AFC cup, whereas
for the champion team of I-League there will be some conditions (Which has been
stated unambiguously). AFC has further instructed to increase the number of
teams in ISL and for that it’s mandatory to enroll two teams from I-League in ISL
which is definitely subject to meet the criteria of ISL.
Although there is no
black and white description of deadline by when ISL should bring everything
into place and action as per the order of AFC, however it is expected to fulfill
the criteria by 2023-24 season. From a top view things may look smooth and
appropriate, but it is only time which can reveal the value of the roadmap set
out by AFC for the development of Indian football. One thing is true that at
least the shift of authority to ISL would certainly strengthen the
administrative part of Indian football and likewise take Indian football to the
forefront of world football. The impact of technical know-how will also play
its role to uplift Indian football to a new level as far as formalities and
other official work are concerned.
Yet, notwithstanding,
so much of transformation in the system no one can affirm that the standard of
Indian football ‘on field’ will take a positive step towards evolvement. Since
everything is done considering the development of ‘playing standard’ of Indian
football, so that soon we can withstand against top countries like England,
Brazil, it is a prerequisite factor to improve quality of football. Having said
so much about the prospect of Indian football I must not evade the uncertain
side of this entire journey which initially appears to be all positive. It is
true that ISL has invested and is also going invest a huge amount of money on
Indian football but the concern is that how well the plan has been formulated
so that the investment turned out to be worthy enough for the development of
Indian football. It has been around five years that ISL has been launched in
India yet the contribution of ISL clubs in nurturing budding talents is comparatively
less. In fact more than nurturing and unearthing young talents they tend to
spot players who have already crossed the basic level in other academies.
So here the
question arises if they are not really willing to promote youth talents and on
the other hand small clubs who are struggling from immense financial crunch are
not given adequate support by the association then who will nurture young talents?
The crisis may not look that serious at this point but after a certain period
it has to be regarded as the utmost priority for the sake of Indian football.
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