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India kicking around
The world has been talking about India and China as the next economic powerhouses and we?re all sooo excited. And it?s not only the economy, stupid!
The world has been talking about India and China as the next economic powerhouses and we’re all sooo excited. And it’s not only the economy, stupid! Both countries are making their presence increasingly felt in the world of culture, international politics, food and all those things that really matter. So wouldn’t it be logical to expect that even though neither country has made it to the 2006 Fifa World Cup finals, a corresponding improvement in their footballing prowess is underway? Alas, even if we can talk about China having made it to the last World Cup, India is still left holding a boot in its hand. Considering that India has a population of a billion-plus and goes cuckoo each World Cup year, do we sense a crushing anomaly?
As in all other departments, the best way to investigate India’s utter ineptitude in the Beautiful Game is to compare it with China. The People’s Republic (ranked 68), as already mentioned, has qualified to the World Cup finals once. Our Republic (ranked 117) hasn’t. China’s first bid to qualify for the World Cup was made in 1957; India’s was in 1986. While the Football Association of China has a moderately up-and-running Jia A (Top A) League running since 1994, India’s Super League and other domestic fixtures have been on a downward spiral — Bhaichung Bhutia or no Bhaichung Bhutia. The Kuala Lumpur-based Asian Football Confederation was hired to launch ‘Vision India’ in 2005, but we’re still having trouble spotting the goalpost.
On Friday evening, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry along with the All India Football Federation — both headed by Priyaranjan Dasmunshi — reportedly arranged for a special viewing of the World Cup opener. Among those invited were Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, several cabinet ministers, MPs, ambassadors and former footballers. India’s World Cup 2010 Qualification Project (sic) was also announced. Now it’s not our business to give Mr Dasmunshi any advice, but there are rumours of Beijing ‘talking cricket’. So maybe it’s wise to keep our eyes on the other World Cup, the one that’s played with a smaller ball, by fewer countries and the one in which, hopefully, the Chinaman will remain a left-arm leg-spin for a very long time.
