Before 2014, the Indian football's league structure was nothing to say. But since the inception of Indian Super League 2014, the thing has changed drastically.
From the past couple of years, Indian Football has growth in performance and India is now competing against Asia's best, the likes of Oman, UAE and Qatar and more.
Is Indian Super League a success for Indian Football ?
So today, we here at Indian Football News discuss the role that Indian Super League has played for development of football in India, is Indian Super League a success for Indian Football.
Foundation
The Indian Super League was originally formed on 2013 while the first season of the competition was played in September 2014. It is being run by All India Football Federation (AIFF) and a joint venture of Reliance Industries and Star Sports called Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL).
Professionalism
The league brought professionalism to football in India, which was missing before. Beforehand, there was lack of professionalism, such as late payment to players and staff, which is slowly slowly vanishing in India.
Quality Player Production
With the introduction of Indian Super League, we are seeing more quality players coming through to the scenes of Indian football, such as Sandesh Jhingan, Anirudh Thappa, Sahal Abdul Samad and more.
Quality Foreign Players
Since the inception of the Indian Super League, we are seeing quality foreign players, who have played in European top-tier league and team are coming to play in India. At the initial days, teams were more inclined towards bringing in marquee players, like Luis Garcia, Diego Forlan. Teams now no longer invest in old marquees, instead they are bringing players who will improve the team.
Big Investment
The Indian Super League has brought in big invest to Indian football since its inception. It all started with La Liga side Atletico Madrid joining hands with Saurav Ganguly to form Atletico de Kolkata. Most recently global powerhouse such as Borussia Dortmund, City Football Group, who owns Manchester City, RB Leipzig invested in Indian Football.
Big Money Sponsors
Before the inception of the Indian Super League, all the clubs' main complain was that they don't enough sponsors, but after the formation of the Indian Super League, we are teams getting big money sponsors, and more and more sponsors are now investing in Indian football, even foreign sponsors are also investing in football in India, big example is when ATK Mohun Bagan joined hands with current English Premier League club Leeds United's sponsor Sbotop for a big money deal.
Infrastructure Development
Since the arrival of the Indian Super League, footballing infrastructure has developed a lot, more artificial pitches are being laid out, clubs have started working on grassroot football.
But along the benefits, there are some negative about Indian Super League, when there is pros then there is cons, let's take a look
No Revenue Share
Even though the Indian Super League is the fastest growing football league, clubs participating in it are not getting any benefit, instead clubs suffering losses every season. While clubs around the world make most of their money from broadcasting revenue, there is no revenue share for clubs participating in the Indian Super League.
No Game Time to Youngsters
Indian Super League clubs have failed to give game time to youngsters due to very short length of the league and most teams preferring to field their best eleven in every match.
League Owned by a Private Group
While most of the leagues around the world are owned by the football governing body of that country, Indian Super League is owned by a private group Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) and not Indian FA.
No Promotion Relegation
Since the inception of the league, it has been a closed league for all. There has been no promotion or relegation to the 2nd division. Teams who would like to join the league, will have pay a 15 crore franchise fee to join the league. But as per a agreed roadmap, promotion and relegation will be introduced into the league from 2024-2025 season.
So, is the Indian Super League a success for Indian Football or not ? Overall the league has positive points and so has negative points, it has helped Indian football grow but it has forced a lot of clubs to suffer because of no promotion to top league for 2nd division clubs.
"For more Indian Football related news, log on to indianfootballnews.in, Follow us on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram."
0 Comments