Again, this topic is tiring at this point but nothing will change as long as Indians continue to simply consume the sport and not play it, along with a lack of infrastructure which means poor kids have no way of accessing professional football.
Football / Soccer / Calcio / Futebol / Fußball
Most of the football fans you see online are, after the establishment of ISL(a much publicized Indian top tier with lot of popular players like Roberto Carlos,Materazzi,Ljungberg,Trezeguet,Malouda which brought in lot of viewership across the country than I league) and Jio(affordable internet). This was around 2015s and most of the guys who started watching football at that time were either in clg and it is impossible to learn the game and became a pro.
Contrary to popular belief, most of the people who pursue sports(other than cricket) in India are from poor or lower middle class background as they see it as an opportunity to get scholarships to colleges or get a government job through sports quota.
1-800-Cash-for-Gold ?
curry mine
In other news, Arsene Wenger opens shovel and pickaxe shop in India.
What kind of colonialist talk is this?
Get a grip man Jesus Christ hahaha
Wtf
Football is very popular there but they don't tend to support their own. Even during the World Cup last year, there and Bangladesh were rocking up to big screens wearing jerseys of other nations. Indians were going to Qatar to support England. It's very weird.
India generally have a very poor sporting record. They have 10 Olympic gold medals in their history. It was only really in the last 20-25 years that they sorted themselves out in cricket.
If football ever got big, the BCCI (Indian cricket board) would wield their power and try to crush it.
India is a big country mate, personally I think there are enough people to support both the sports if it becomes big.
Sue me but my kid (whenever I have him/her) is gonna train in football at all costs. It's upto them how far they want to go
Always wondered about this. Out of +1 billion people, they couldn’t find ONE talented football player?
Because there's hardly any focus on it and very tiny amount of resources gone into developing football especially when you compare it to Cricket. The money poured into cricket is absolutely insane
Indian players are able to compete with players from Brazil, japan and all to a reasonable extent till the youth leagues. But after that the gap widens, probably due to the High quality matches played by the top teams.
Finally someone significant has realized the power of Pav Bhaji, Momo, Rice+Curry and Aloo Paratha.
A country that obsessed with football, with that many players, could easily be a football powerhouse.
Mi primera chamba
I was thinking about this the other day. There's over 1b people there and lots looove football, why do we never see good Indian players? Is the infrastructure that bad?
it’s simply because the way the big 5 european countries and south america have their whole sports culture and institutions rooted in football, India has for cricket. The money poured in for cricket in India is otherworldly and that’s what all the kids grow up watching and playing on the streets. There are many amazing, premier league level youth talent in india but the lack of places to showcase and develop that talent is the reason.
obligatory "he is a specialist in failure"
name 3 indian footballers ever
How is that possible, clubs have super accurate scouting programs, how can they ignore a whole country?
Really optimistic about Indian Football. There are signs but hoping we actually have something to show.
Has Wenger never heard of cricket?, cos it’s the only sport they really care about, there’s no room for anything else
Indian football is like a hidden gem. Some said it's better hidden.
India to arsenal confirmed.
Been watching Mohun Bagan in India and there have been some really entertaining matches. I hope to see the league grow and improve
These comments get more and more racist the further you scroll down....
There's pandering and then there's pandering.
Wouldn't trust them in a final.
Mr Patel and Singh soon in PL