This is a great moment for the Indian Football. Indian Super League has created a high spirited atmosphere amongst the young players and the football fans. After cricket, kabaddi and badminton, Indians are preparing for their tryst with the franchise football. FIFA President Sepp Blatter once had called Indian Football a ‘Sleeping Giant’ in the year 2007. Indian Football had several ups and downs due to the lack of proper infrastructure. Several attempts have been made to raise the standards of the Indian Football over the years which have yielded scanty results. The National Football League although became the I-League, but not much has been done at the grassroots level. It has become very difficult for the governing body to find right sponsors and broadcast partners.
With the launch of the ISL, the excitement around the sport in India is rising again. This is the first attempt which has been made by All India Football Federation (AIFF) in partnership with IMG-Reliance and Star TV pertaining to glamorise the sport. AIFF has struck the correct chord with Praful Patel profile as the President of the organisation. The organisers have managed to generate a great amount of awareness, buzz and enthusiasm around the league in the very first edition.
It is a matter of time to see whether the success of the ISL will create any impact on the domestic set up or on the grass roots level. One of the primary objectives of this league is to promote and encourage the young talents in India and develop football at the very elementary level in India. AIFF has assured that despite the advent of a corporate backed football league, AIFF President Praful Patel has stressed that I-League will continue to remain India’s premier football league and mainstay.
The ISL is carrying all the glitz and glamour that a sports event in the present times needs to have. High profile international players like Alessandro Del Piero, Zico and Luis Garcia, support of revered European football league like English Premier League (EPL), top notch celebrities like Abhishek Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor and John Abraham with sports icon like Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly are all participating actively in the sport.
As the league commences from October 12, it is still remained to be seen whether the Indian Football fans are flexible enough to embrace the domestic football in its newest avatar.
0 comments:
Post a Comment