Come on India, Let’s Football!

So, the new season of Indian Super League (ISL) has commenced. In all 10 teams are fighting it out for supremacy in the only men’s professional football league in India which will see a total of 95 matches over a period of 4 months. The organisers are leaving no stone unturned to make the league a grand success. But, are we doing enough for the game? Are we taking footballers, both Indians and foreigners who sweat it out for glory, over our heads like we take international cricketers? Are we celebrating the goals scored by the footballers as we erupt in joy after a batsman hits four and six or a bowler claims a wicket? Are we analyzing each game like we do after every cricket match? Or Simply, how many of us know the names of teams and players who are sprinting down the football field for that one precious moment, of netting the goal?

Even media seems to be not promoting the game at par with the Gentleman’s Game. This despite the fact that football or soccer is played in almost each and every country (200 approx) in the world while cricket is being played by number of countries that can be counted on fingertips along with some associate countries. Even the duration of a soccer game is much lesser than cricket (90 minutes as compared to 360 minutes). Unlike cricket, which is played in almost every lane of the country, we will find soccer being played in certain pockets which has been die-hard enthusiasts of this game. The most interesting part is we never get emotional when a soccer player retires or hangs his boot as against a cricketer bidding adieu to the game. Neither we give ‘demi God’ status to any footballer, nor we run documentaries and make movies on any of them. So much so that even when the ‘God of Football’ comes to the City of Joy, we don’t carry big interviews of him or make him Guest Editor. In fact, many of us remain unaware of the short yet big man’s arrival to India and he waiving his ‘hand of God’. We don’t do anything of this sort and keep on saying that the game is not getting its due in India as we are not promoting it in a better way and are not providing any infrastructure to increase the game’s popularity. So what do we do to give football the status of the Gentleman’s Game? The answer to this question should be discussed and debated to arrive at the best conclusion. Come on India, Let’s Football!