Structural failures are holding back Indian football |
More than 1.4 billion people, 700 million under the age of 30, and 305 million of whom are football fans. Zero World Cup appearances. Zero players in Europe’s top leagues. Zero presence on the world stage.
Indian football has long been stuck in a rut. The world’s most populous country hasn’t qualified for the World Cup since 1950, when it gave up the opportunity in favour of the Olympics. However, over the past decade, the sport has grown louder, more visible, and more commercial than ever before, buoyed by new leagues, sponsors, and broadcast deals. Yet, beneath that surface-level momentum, results remain stagnant and player pathways unclear.
When I spent part of my childhood in Bangalore from 2010 to 2017, I remember football being almost as popular as cricket amongst people my age. My friends and I idolized the eternal faces of Alexis Sanchez, Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and so many more. That was indicative of how India is now home to an estimated 300 million football fans and is one of the largest audiences for the sport globally. The Indian Super League has reached hundreds of millions of viewers across broadcast and digital platforms, showing that interest in football has expanded rapidly even at a domestic level.
Yet as deeply as we followed the beautiful game, there was a quiet absence that was impossible to miss. None of the players we watched looked like us, came from where we came from or represented India on the same stage, leaving an entire generation of fans without a visible connection between their passion and their own footballing identity. The bitter truth for many of us is that Indian football’s international standing has continued to deteriorate. India has not only failed to qualify for the World Cup but now........