Indian football in 2012

Here is a good gist of how football in India fared in 2012. Good, bad and ugly for Indian football in 2012

I-league starts today!

Yes, I-league starts today. AIFF and their allies in IMG-Reliance has managed to rope in Ten Action + as the broadcaster.

Here is an interesting take on I-league and how crucial is this season going to be for the competition itself.


Follow I-league comprehensively on my twitter avatar fni, where i aggregate the best of the news on football in India for you.

Do we need artificial football pitches in India?

All you need to know about artificial football pitches is in the shared Guardian article.

I am trying to analyse this in the Indian context.

I have always been circumspect about the proliferation of art-pitches in Indian football stadiums. This drive saw a decent grass pitch in the Bangalore football stadium being replaced with a art-pitch. I was surprised, because the Bangalore football stadium pitch was a decent enough pitch by Indian standards. 

I am not a big fan of art-pitches in football, but i think it is time we ponder upon this. The opinion differs from people to people. Stadiums across the world have installed art-pitches even though it is not very popular in U.K. Playing on a grass pitch offers a zizekian type of mental satisfaction but the serious impacts on environment, especially in summer, to maintain a grass pitch should motivate us to think the other way. 

Grass pitches need good maintenance. It would be absolutely difficult in Indian conditions to maintain a perfect grass football pitch. Considering that most football stadiums are owned by the local municipal/corporation authorities, when summer hits and drought sets in, watering and maintaining a football pitch would be the last thing on their mind.

Pitches also effect the pace of a football match. There is a considerable difference in the pace of a football match in i-league, when it is played on an artificial pitch. The wobbly, patchy grass pitches tend to cut out the fluidity of movement. As broadcast is the main source of money for any football league, a match played on a wobbly surface will be utterly boring. Turn on Tenaction + and watch an I-league match played in the Salt Lake Stadium and you will understand what i am trying to say.

On a short term, artificial pitches could prove a great deal in developing football in India. It will offer a great playing surface where kids can replicate their skills to perfection that they learn from Television and Youtube. Good pitches will also make I-league matches more "visually appealing". When football associations start owning stadiums, we can think of grass pitches.

SAFF Championship 2011

The SAFF cup 2011 concluded in New Delhi and India were crowned champions for the nth time again. I think we have been winning this competition for years now.  

I could not watch all the group matches but did catch up with some highlights on TV and from the internet.  Speaking of the internet, I should mention that I was pleasantly surprised to see SAFF Championship 2011 channel on youtube. Don’t know who was running it, but whoever it was, kudos to them. 

On the whole it looked like a decently conducted tournament. Due credits to AIFF for arranging the tournament.

Now on to the final. India played a very decent Afghanistan team. AFC had already goofed up by selecting an Indian origin referee for the final. They definitely had other options in front of them and why did they select the Sikh ref from Singapore can only be explained by them.

During the first half, Afghanistan played really well. They did have some good chances which they failed to convert, partly due to their mistake and as Indian goalkeeper karanjit was having a good day on the field.

Second half lumbered on and India was putting up a better show this time around.  Then in the 63^rd minute Sayed Rahim Nabi played a ball in to the box and Jeje was tripped in the box. In the ensuing melee, some Afghanistan players almost manhandled the referee and the referee dished out a red card to the Afghani goal keeper. 

There are also some sections who claim that Jeje was fouled outside the penalty box. I have rerun the video so many times and I am convinced, if it is a foul it happened in the box. 

If you watch EPL on tv, you will be familiar with this saying “we have seen this given” and that is exactly what happened. A penalty was awarded and Afghanistan was reduced to ten men. India took the numerical advantage and killed the game by slotting in another three more goals and lifted the cup. 

 I was not at all enthused at the way things turned out in the final. AFC could have selected another referee for the match and could have avoided all the allegations from the Afghani contingent.

Check out goal.com' review of Indian players who appeared in the championship here. I more or less agree with what they have written there.