KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has assured the All India Football Federation of full government support to host India’s biggest-ever international football fixture against five-time World Cup champions Brazil in Kolkata on October 3, AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey said.
The assurance comes amid concerns over crowd management following the chaotic scenes during Lionel Messi’s visit to Kolkata last December.
Brazil is currently ranked fifth in the FIFA World Rankings, while India is languishing at 138th. India has never hosted a top-five FIFA-ranked nation.
“I met the Honourable Chief Minister a few days ago. I briefed him about the SOPs and the requirements to host a match of this stature. He assured me that several departments and ministries from the Government of West Bengal will assist and cooperate to ensure AIFF organises this match well and according to FIFA protocol,” AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey told PTI.
Asked if the AIFF was concerned after the chaos at Kolkata’s Salt Lake stadium during Messi’s visit, Chaubey said hosting a FIFA international was vastly different from organising a celebrity event.
“It was not a football match, it was more of an exhibition of an individual, of course he is the world’s greatest footballer. But a football match is different and must be organised under the standard operating procedures of FIFA and AFC. The competition departments and several other departments are involved. God willing, the match will go well,” Chaubey said.
“For any FIFA match, there are SOPs and protocols. Of course without government support, it is not possible. I believe this match is not only a football match, it will give the Government of West Bengal, an opportunity to portray itself on a global platform where people talk about Kolkata football, Bengali football, India’s football. I believe everyone, all the stakeholders would like to take this opportunity and put their best foot forward to ensure the match takes place nicely.”
The AIFF chief said playing Brazil would offer invaluable exposure to the Indian team and help identify areas that need improvement.
“More we get international matches, international friendly, we might not win those matches but there is still room for improvement. Playing a match against Brazil is more about ensuring we know our strengths, identifying areas for improvement, and developing our football to reach new heights. I invited Lebanon and Kuwait to play in the SAFF Championship, and we saw it provided better competition; India won that SAFF Cup,” he said.
“India will play New Zealand in the next FIFA window, played Australia in the AFC Asian Cup and then will play Brazil in the October window. The more international friendlies we play against better opponents, the better it is for us.”
Chaubey admitted convincing Brazil to play India was a difficult task given the country’s low FIFA ranking.
“It is not easy when you are not in a decent ranking position. It is very difficult to convince a superior opponent to play against you. It always requires walking the extra mile to ensure what India can offer to global football.
“Having the largest population in the world, the largest youth population in the world, and being the fourth-largest economy, India has a significant role in several areas of the international arena. So football cannot be left behind. Therefore, I think it took a little extra effort to ensure that we get a team like Brazil to play in India,” Chaubey said.
According to Chaubey, the AIFF’s strategy has been to raise the standard of opposition after India’s prolonged dominance in South Asian football.
“To develop the national team and improve the players, one must play against stronger opponents. For the last couple of years I tried to arrange an international FIFA match against a top-ranked Asian team, but that was unsuccessful. I tried with Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Australia, but I’m very happy that after long efforts, we finally secured Brazil to play in Kolkata,” he said.
“If you look at the last 10 editions of the SAFF Cup, India won 9 times. So it became evident that we needed to raise the level of competition. In the last 5-6 years, between 2016 and 2022, India played Nepal 5 times, Afghanistan 4 times, Bangladesh 3 times. Then we played Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Macau, Laos, Hong Kong, St. Kitts and Nevis, Puerto Rico, Cambodia.
“So all those teams are good but again I think we need stronger opponents. So, if you look at the last 3 years when we played, let’s say we played Australia well—that was by the schedule of the AFC—but we also played Madagascar, Malaysia, and Iran, which is top 5 in Asia,” he said.
Chaubey pointed out that while several football legends, including Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, had visited India over the years, none had come to play an official international.
“Barring 1977 when Cosmos played in Eden Garden against Mohun Bagan where Pele played and then I think in 2007 or 2008 when Bayern Munich played against Mohun Bagan for Oliver Kahn’s farewell match. We have never seen the Indian team play internationally against a top-five-ranked team. PSV Eindhoven has played, Bochum has played during Super Soccer days and I think Uruguay came for one of the Asia Cups in the early 80s. But this match is the biggest of them all,” he signed off.