Indian football team: Crisis runs deeper than missing OCI players, retired legends; major changes needed

India's football team lost again and this time to lower-ranked Hong Kong in a crucial AFC Asian Cup qualifier match. Many fans are blaming the ban on foreign-based Indian-origin players, but is that really the issue here? The real problem lies in poor planning, a weak youth system, and bad decisions by those running Indian football. read more
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Indian football team sings the national anthem before a match. Image: AFP
Another day, another defeat for the men's Indian national football team. This time, to a lower-ranked Hong Kong side. There has, unsurprisingly, been an outpouring of emotion and frustration since. Fans have vented their displeasure. Bhaichung Bhutia, one of India's most famous footballers, has had a shot at the current regime too.
But the overriding theme, somehow, has been that India's lack of success and development is because they have not allowed Overseas Citizen of India (OCI)/ Person of Indian Origin (PIO) players to be a part of the national team.
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That could not be farther from the truth. These footballers could improve the team. But to argue that that is the only thing holding India back is to miss the whole point. Which, again, would not be unlike Indian football.
One manager, two jobs
Let's go back in time. When Manolo Marquez was appointed as the head coach. Appointed, reportedly, after bypassing the committee formed to decide on such matters, and while also being the manager of FC Goa. And no, this is not sarcasm, this is exactly how it was. Two concurrently running teams, and one 56-year-old manager.
There was still optimism due to Marquez's experience in the ISL and working with Indian players. But if you cast a glance at him post the defeat to Hong Kong, all that was visible was a man broken and bereft of ideas.
India have only won once under him and have failed to score in five matches (out of eight). Instead of working with what they had to resolve their goal-scoring problems, India went back to Sunil Chhetri. There is still no clarity on who hauled the legendary forward out of retirement. But by every possible marker, it felt like the wrong decision. And that assessment has not changed.
Previous national team managers have often complained about Indian strikers not starting for ISL clubs. But maybe none of the strikers coming through are good enough, and that has to come down to the existing youth structure and its shortcomings – both in terms of how much they are playing, how much they are learning, and what they are learning.
OCI/PIO players only a PR gimmick?
There is also an issue of Indian footballers' inclination not to step out of their comfort zone. The financial aspect is, undeniably, a consideration and that is completely understandable. But it does lead to a paucity of good-quality players, given even the second or third division league in a European country might be of a better standard than what is found in India.
And now, that has led to the advocacy of OCI/PIO players. Even though none of those who might be eligible instantly and might want to play for India are…strikers.
That is not a guarantee of success either. Afghanistan and Pakistan have such provisions, but do not uproot trees on the continental stage. Compare that to a country like Uzbekistan, placed just two spots above India in 2018 in the FIFA rankings, but now dreaming of causing upsets at the World Cup next year. All because they invested in their youth structure and age-group teams, allowing that talent to percolate into the senior side.
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The propaganda of bringing in OCI/PIO players thus seems a PR gimmick. Just to tap into some of the frustration, give it a cool new name, make it a fashionable fad, and give the average Indian football fan something to cling on to, ignoring how feasible and irrational it seems. While taking the focus away from what actually plagues the system.
The seeds of this particular campaign were sown, most notably, by Kalyan Chaubey, the AIFF President, who also happens to be the face of the 'Vision 2047' football project, and offered, rather ludicrously, prize money if India were to win against Hong Kong. No qualification incentive, no cry for bragging rights or a fight for pride. But a financial objective. By an organization that is not exactly rolling around in cash and reportedly still holds debts to players.
All of these attempts sound and look good, especially when social media influencers parade with it, swell their views, and link it to that proverbial awakening of the sleeping giant. But it does not benefit the national team, or the youth structure, nor does it make the nation a footballing force. A memo that the AIFF and its president have clearly missed.
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Deeper problems exist
India, of course, seem light years away from calling themselves a force or using football and force in the same sentence. And they will drift further apart if they continue with this utopian idea in a country whose footballing structure is muddled (administratively, technically, you name it) at almost every possible juncture.
A lot of this current approach, in not wanting to invest where investment is needed - especially when a cash-crunch exists - and instead hoping that an OCI/PIO player will rescue India from the doldrums, that someone reincarnated as Crisitano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi or Thierry Henry will spawn out of nowhere, is wishful thinking, at best.
Just like papering over a crack. And very similar to Indian street food, where cheese is added to anything and everything to make it more presentable, and to ensure no one picks faults with what lies under it.
This may sound crude, damning and scathing. And that is because it is. A sorry state of affairs, where the attention no longer is on whether the right questions are being asked and if the correct answers are being sought; rather, on whether any questions are being asked at all, and if there is any attempt being made to even come close to a solution, let alone arriving at it.
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Is the time already up?
A new manager, a 40-year-old legend coming out of retirement, countless social media reels, and innumerable interviews without tangible action have not solved the current malaise. And it never will.
Expecting a different result while repeating that same process of finding the latest PR tool to hang your hat on, along with just waiting for something to happen, is, to put things mildly, unwise.
Time, tide, and football wait for none. It swats aside those who dawdle, and obliterates those looking for outward fixes and hoping for outlandish fantasy. And even though time running out might seem apt in the Indian footballing context, the AIFF has probably gone past that stage long, long ago.

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