The Sports-India Community

looks as if fifa is really trying hard to have India among the mainstream countries....But I can't see any change coming from aiff...I really dont see what praful patel has done which is praise worthy off..?

kujo wrote:Rousing quote from the FIFA chief

"To wake up a sleeping giant you need several alarm clocks. We have set up several alarm clocks. My tenure ends in 2015 but I won't leave FIFA until I see the sport established in the sub-continent of India," Blatter said.

http://www.rediff.com/sports/report/the ... 120309.htm

I heard Sepp Blatter's comments on the BBC a short while ago, and was wondering if anyone reported them here. And of course, someone (kujo) did!!
Apparently, India will host the 2017 under-17 World Cup, and FIFA hopes to prepare India to bid for the 2026 World Cup. Given the atrocious state of Indian football, these are ambitious targets. But FIFA has sent scouts to India to unearth 10-12 year olds who could play for the host team in 2017. A start has been made, but the key will be to keep AIFF out of it!

Yeah, right. Like India is going to get somewhere in football. I just had another of my day train rides through the length of Kerala, from Mangalore to south Kerala. Had my pastime, counting the number of times I saw people playing different sports. I saw 18 cricket games by kids, mostly on unused paddy fields, but about 6 or 7 of them on football fields with goals. But not a single football game. None at all. Cricket is so much easier to play in smaller places than football, which was also so clear to see. Just 10 minutes before I got out at Chengannur, I saw three kids doing some kicking practice on a school field - and I went "hurrah, there's the future that Blatter envisions!!" Yeah, go India. Go Kerala. Go Kerala football. I nearly cried.

It is a lost cause, PKB. Indian football is so dead that it may never have any life. So damn dead and so utterly talentless - at every level. I know you will scream at me when I tell the reason why Indian football is dead - but truth I have to tell. Cricket is a more interesting game for kids, and it has so much more glamor too. Simple. For it to change will take at least 25 years. Minimum. First cricket should really lose its shine (which it is probably doing, but it will take at least 10-15 years of decline) and then about 4 times as many kids need to play footbal SERIOUSLY. Like only that mattered for them. Like they do around the world EVERYWHERE, including in cricketing countries outside of the subcontinent. Like they do in cricket in India. But will it happen even in 25 years?

Jay

PS: I was happy to see two volleyball games. At least that sport isn't dead like football.

Jay,
The city kids are into football -- they follow teams in the English Premier League, practice all sorts of trick moves and what not. So we may get a new generation of players from that pool.
Suresh

Real Madrid to open academy in Kerala:

Real Madrid to open academy in Kerala

Real Madrid could open a football school in Kerala

Sometimes I get depressed by the state of affairs concerning Indian football and unless the corrupt politicians and leaders are thrown out of football adminstration, I don't see any change of mentality.

Wow, that is a profound observation. Thank you.

Dutch touch likely for U-22 national team

India's first regional Academy set up in Navi Mumbai

The AIFF has signed a two-year agreement with Orange Sports Forum (OSF) for the supply of Dutch football know-how to build football in India. This saw Robert Baan’s appointment to Technical Director of the AIFF o has been assigned the task of creating the blueprint for the success of Indian football.

The academy in Navi Mumbai is the first of 4 academies to be set up this year. The academy at Father Agnel School has an artificial turf and host to 30 boys that live on campus. The players will be given all-round development under Managing Director, Father Saturnino Almeida who is confident, “with the academy being set up within the school premises, and there is no doubt Academics and Sports would go together.”

“The basic idea in the academies would be to develop technically gifted players who would be comfortable with the ball, so everyone wants the ball and everyone wants to play,” said Scott O’Donell, Technical Director of Regional and Elite academies.
He went on to say, “Living together, good food, having a physio looking after the welfare of the players is a perfect recipe to try and develop the players.”

The dutch youth development programm is famous for bringing up excellent world class players (Van Persi, robben, snider, huntelaar, a decade ago: kluiviert,seedorf, davids, bergkamp, and so on), although their population is just about 16 Mio. people. So I think this could be a huge step forward.

Long article about making money with football in India:
Interest in Dempo: Can Shah Rukh Khan save the football business in India?

Documentary on Launch of first AIFF Regional Academy in collaboration with FIFA:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDYf16QQ ... e=youtu.be

AIFF putting Indian football on the right path

A good and welcome development.

Just by hiring foreign coach the purpose won't be served. India needs to take such steps to involve foreign coaches to develop Indian coaches and bring them in touch with current world coaching standards is the only way forward.

-Ankit

I-League looking to take next step
FIFA looking to the future with India
Football will challenge cricket in India: Jerome Valcke

Even if football becomes the No.1 sport in India it won't necessarily mean that they will be at the top of the FIFA rankings. Look at China, football is No. 1 there or atleast one of the most popular sports but it still isn't in the top-50 world wide.

But I would still prefer Indians being football crazy over cricket crazy.