Skip to main content

Ground Reality - ISL

Much is expected from the newly formed football league –Indian Super League (ISL) to rejuvenate the sport in India. Co-promoted by IMG-Reliance, Star India, celebrities from sports and Hindi film industry, this venture aims to nurture young talents.

Earlier though, there were rumours that suggested, not all is well between Indian football governing body - All Indian Football Federation (AIFF) and the Indian Super League (ISL), because the owners of I-league clubs were against the idea of loaning out their players to ISL. However, it was put to rest when the new league was officially launched on October 21, by IMG- Reliance, Star sports and the AIFF. 

 ISL, consisting of eight franchises – Mumbai City FC, FC Pune City, Delhi Dynamos, FC Goa, Kerala Blasters FC, NorthEast United FC and Atletico de Kolkata, will play a minimum of 14 matches. The semi-final matches will be played on home and away basis.

ISL franchises have landed number of European stars, which includes four world Cup winners - Joan Capdevilla (Spain 2010), Alessandro Del Piero (Italy 2006), Robert Pires and David Trezeguet (France 1998) and top players like Freddie Ljungberg, Nicolas Anelka and Luis Garcia. Their presence will not just inspire Indian footballers but also help in raising their playing standards.  At the same time, it will attract the attention of Indian football lovers who follow European clubs.

This latest format of sport is bound to have an impact in India, but there are problems that have to be dealt with first.

  • There is still a severe lack of infrastructure and resources, and in order to wake football’s sleeping giant, the organisers need to develop and provide proper training facilities to the players
  • Serious work from the grassroots level is required to improve technical aspects of the game.
  • Multi-purpose stadiums need major refurbishment and proper maintenance is required to keep it that way.
  • There is an absence of football culture in the country. Though, there are followers of the game but it is confined to certain states. Cricket has dominance over all other sporting activities in India. Even in Kolkata where the sports history is rich, cricket is considered as the more viable option.
  • As per Dnaindia.com reports, national coach Wim Koervermans is none too pleased about the prospects of his wards playing under different coaches in the same season and the fatigue factor that will impair the national players who will have to bear additional tournament workload.

 Indian football icon Baichung Bhutia believes the ISL can change the way this sport is viewed in India. If the concerned authorities manage to overcome the above mentioned hurdles, then this country will definitely witness dawn of a new era in this sport. Challenges are there but with effort and determination, it can be overcome. 
  
India, a nation of over a billion people has failed to produce world class footballers for many years now, and the introduction of ISL can change all that. It can accelerate the growth of football here. The league has promised to create a platform to groom football talent in the country. The main mission of this league is to revolutionize football in India, to enthral people by showing them high quality of the sport.  
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What the CJP won and Amit Shah's gamble

A joke became an identity. An identity became a protest. And a protest, dismissed as an online tantrum, forced one of the most powerful governments in modern India to retreat. That is the short history of the Cockroach Janta Party, or CJP. Born in May 2026 from six sarcastic words posted online, the movement travelled from memes to Jantar Mantar , from ridicule to repression, and finally to a ministerial resignation and promises of systemic reform. In barely ten weeks, it achieved what established opposition parties had often failed to do: it converted diffuse youth anger into a focused political cost. But movements are judged not only by the moment they break through. They are also judged by what they do after the breakthrough. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke has now demanded the resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the police action against protesters during the July 20 “ Sansad Chalo ” (“March to Parliament”) rally. Other senior CJP figures have backed holding Shah...
Post a Comment
Read more

The internet built the Modi era. Can it also disrupt it?

The BJP mastered social media to bypass traditional gatekeepers. Now, young Indians are using the same digital space to challenge its narrative and overcome a culture of political fear. The BJP understood the political power of the internet before most of its opponents did. Social media allowed Narendra Modi to reduce his dependence on traditional journalism, speak directly to voters and build a political image that was everywhere at once. Online campaigns did not merely promote the BJP. They helped create the Modi era. But the internet does not remain loyal to those who master it first. When the weapon changes hands Young Indians are now using the same digital space to question authority, ridicule political messaging and turn private frustration into public anger. The Cockroach Janta Party, or CJP, is the latest example. What began as an online satirical response to a judicial remark about unemployed youth soon became a rallying point for anger over unemployment, examination paper lea...
Post a Comment
Read more

When protest becomes content: Who speaks for Jharkhand’s job aspirants?

Social media has drawn national attention to alleged recruitment-exam irregularities in Jharkhand. It has also complicated the question of who represents the affected candidates. Thousands of job aspirants marched towards the Jharkhand Assembly on August 10, turning a state recruitment dispute into a national story. Reuters reported that protesters crossed barricades before police used water cannons, tear gas and batons. Police said some protesters became violent and that only limited force was used. Protesters accused the police of using excessive force. These accounts remain disputed, but the clash marked a sharp escalation in the agitation that began on July 25. Behind the dramatic footage lies a less visible fact: the protest is not led by one unified group. The protesters allege irregularities in examinations conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission and the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission. Their main demands include cancelling the 14th JPSC preliminary examinatio...
Post a Comment
Read more