Bengaluru Football Club dropped 25 points in 23 games and yet emerged champions with 44 points. It proves that the playing levels have dipped considerably in the I-League. This is reflected in the national team’s poor showing.
The year in which the concept of the national league fructified, 1996-97, India had its highest FIFA ranking of 94, in February 1996. Sixteen years after the league got underway, India touched lowest ranking of 169 in November 2012. Right now, with the league in its 17th year, India was placed at 145 in March 2014. That gives one an indication of how the national league has flopped in terms of the national team’s progress at the international level.
Quite as a coincidence, Bengaluru Football Club were crowned champions of 2014. The debutants made history no doubt.
There is a common factor vis a vis the national team — Sunil Chhetri. The striker with 43 international goals is the skipper of BFC as also the Indian team. While the national team fails to get past minnows like Afghanistan, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh in South Asia, Sunil has led BFC to I-League success.
The reason is very simple. In their pursuit of success, Indian clubs have bought the best of foreigners their money can buy. At the same time, the zeal to nurture Indian talent has left a lot to be desired. BFC is a classic example. They do not have a single Bangalore or Karnataka-based player worth the name in their ranks. So how would prospective India players, let alone stars, emerge?
Thanks to the four foreigners only in the playing eleven rule, others are on the field. If not, clubs would have chased foreign talent with more enthusiasm.
The concept of the national league has ensured that no less than 30 major all-India tournaments have ground to a halt. Clubs and aspiring players have been rudely hit. As if that wasn’t sufficient, the AIFF now has plans for the Indian Super League. Popular opinion is that it is bound to marginalise the I-League. For, not trophies, but entertainment is their goal.
For a brief period, the national league did hold a lot of promise. India, captained by Baichung Bhutia, defeated United Arab Emirates 1-0 in Bangalore in 2001 in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. The team drew with Yemen and beat Brunei. Losing 0-1 to UAE away, the Sukhvinder Singh-coached team failed to make the second phase by a solitary point. Indian football presented a rosy picture then. But the AIFF failed to drive home the advantage. Youth development never got going. The national league got no sponsors. Clubs were not even awarded their prize money in time. TV rights got them nothing. Schedules went haywire.
Consequently, the championship lost out on many fronts, contributing little or nothing to the national team’s cause. “Yes, but after that the team was handed over to people who had no accountability. Advise of experienced people is a must. But that did not happen and coaches who took over had their own ideas and agendas,” said former India goalkeeper Brahmanand Shankwalkar, who was the goalkeeping coach in 2001. “Another problem is we are not producing strikers. We depend on foreigners. Bhaichung Bhutia, IM Vijayan and now Chhetri. Give me a fourth name. Unless we have good Indian strikers in all clubs, we will not prosper,” he added.
“A very crucial factor is there is no follow-up of Indian players in the I-League clubs. There must be a mechanism to monitor their progress. Only then we can see them maintain their playing levels. We tend to forget them after a tournament or a season. Clubs and federations in Europe keep a tab on players and guide them. It must happen here,” Brahmanand opined.
“First of all, we need to plan our campaigns. What is our main aim, the important goals for the national team etc. A coach must be given a specific task and if he does not succeed, he must be replaced. Success cannot or never be guaranteed. But all action must be result-oriented. You cannot allow someone to go on and on despite poor results,” said former India defender Subrata Bhattacharya.
“Clubs, including Mohun Bagan or East Bengal, have done little for improvement. The AIFF too is afraid to send our team to play against Japan or South Korea. Only if we play strong teams we can improve. Playing Bangladesh, Nepal will get us nothing,” added Subrata, who guided Mohun Bagan to three national league titles.
“In a way, the teams were closely matched. There were hardly any big-scoring games.
Many juniors like Narayan Das and Manandeep Singh did well. I think we must take the positives and build on it,” said Santosh Kashyap, coach of I-League club Rangdajied United.
Poor planning, improper infrastructure, lack of scientific training plague I-League sides. Naturally, it has impacted the national team as well. The road to glory is long but it must first be charted out. Will the AIFF and the clubs do so?