| I League vs IPL style league |
India developing as one of the hottest prospects for football
in the world, the number of business oriented plans coming forward is
increasing. The AIFF and its marketing
partner IMG-Reliance have proposed to hold a city-based franchise league on the
lines of popular Indian Premier League (IPL) in cricket. The tournament is
expected to feature as-yet-unnamed international and local stars. But the
I-league clubs have declined to release their players for the tournament.
The role of AIFF and IMG Reliance is to develop the sport in
the country, rather than trying to drive money out of it. The idea of having a
fancy league with European stars will overshadow the work done by the I-League clubs
for over 10 years for gaining popularity. The new league will eventually
supersede the I-League and cause the slow death of existing clubs. The I-League
was here well before IMG-Reliance and unfortunately, all this is about money
and I think it would have an adverse effect on the I-League.
A similar thing happened in Indonesia with two domestic
leagues in place, the Indonesian Premier League and the Indonesia Super League,
and it threatened the sport in that country. Finally the FIFA interfered and didn’t
sanction the idea of having two leagues. India cannot bear and handle any such
setbacks in near future.
The new league is expected to bring in names like David
Beckham, Robert Pires and Fabio Cannavaro. These introductions will surely grab
attention but it will just be momentarily. The players coming in will either be
retired or semi retired. So it won’t help if you bring in retired or
semi-retired players to grab a few eyeballs for a minute.
IMG Reliance must rather spend money and bring in investors
in developing the current club. They must increase the salary of the players,
increase the infrastructure etc. These things will help in making the league
more competitive and increasing the quality of players. But unfortunately IMG-
Reliance, a business firm, may not get an instant return on investment by this
move. So such a move by the organization
is highly unlikely.
Football is a completely different sport when compared to cricket.
A league for 2 months may be apt for
cricket but when it comes to football it must be for around 8 to 9 months. The
players will end up having fatigue issues after playing around 20 matches in
span of 2 months. So ultimately the players
will start under-performing in I-League after the new tournament.
IPL itself is receiving criticisms from the pundits for
spoiling the charm of established game like Cricket in the country. So I wonder
how such a league will help in improving the condition of a not yet developed
sport in the country.
It will only put the young amature football of India in danger. The sport will definitely give a hype but at the cost of a players career. Indian footballers need good facilities and coach, if this concept can provide this with a full year training then it can be productive. I have written about the both sides of the coin. Hope it gives a perspective.
ReplyDeleteWith Big names comes attraction. Be it footballers who are past their prime. MLS has policies where in they can buy specific no.of foreign players. The arrival of Beckham, Henry have increased the viewership & fan following of football in the USA.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly if the proposed league kicks off and if the so called big names enter the arena..then it wud be good for the nation.
However considering the fact that two leagues cant run in tandem. The proposed league can be run in a world cup or Euro Format whereby the tournament would be completed in two months.
Regarding Reliance funding the project. Of course since in the current corporate world no one does things for free . so even they are justified. Its upto the AIFF how they manage the two leagues and try to keep both alive.
Even if i am against IPL completely. It has given us talents like Rayudu, Dhawan, etc. So hopefully IMG league would promote the youngsters from different states.
Prajin, dont u think it would be better if AIFF and IMG-Reliance would pump in the money in the existing league, i.e I-League, rather than creating a new league altogether.
ReplyDeleteI do not agree to the comments put across by Jibesh because I-league is from last 10 years and still football have not yet been promoted to that extent.I do not think funding into it will sort the problem. So creation of new league might help to solve the existing problem.
ReplyDeleteWhen compared to cricket before IPL, players have been selected through different tournaments like Ranji Trophy,Irani Trophy, Duleep Trophy etc, but only few players were able to make up to the mark. After IPL have been launched a huge number of youngsters and other talents emerged.
My conculsion is that, the creation of new league will undoubtedly create a huge number of talents and moreover fan following towards football in INDIA is increasing day by day but the sport needs to be flourished and promoted further.
I-League is only 6 seasons old. It is still a new league with lots of scope for improvement. New teams like Bengaluru FC are coming in. Introduction of such big franchisees can only be good for the league. Instead of writing off the league and creating a new one, it would be better to build on the foundation already provided by the I-league.
ReplyDeleteYes,there should be a league made for football,if someone cold not do better does not mean the sport is not worth,there were flop leagues in cricket ,hockey, n many other sports,but now we have IPL for cricket,its not abot promoting football in india ,almost 3/4 of indain's like footfall,,just that our climate does not support the format to complete with foreign clubs is not end of the sport in our country,we will take a step of inter-leagues and can find out gemss out of them,and we always had support from these players like BAICHUNG BHUTIA ,BECKHAM , MESSI , RONALDO. So i am looking forward for this league game
ReplyDeleteI will go with the new league format. For the growth of football in India it is necessary that some star players are involved. Young Indian players will only learn from them about how strict professional you must be if you want to achieve what they achieved in their glamorous looking career and may be one day we will have our own player ruling the world of football and anyways its a nice read. Good Job. Keep it up.
ReplyDeleteThe new league will definitely nurture young footballers more over that it will provide limelight to the existing football players as football in India lack lustre. It will also provide platform for new coaches and coaching techniques which can be benefited by each and everyone. We know the names of very few players who participate in I-league but introduction of IMGleague would make us familiar with many more players.So waiting for the new league to kick start.
ReplyDelete@Jibesh - If u had gone through my comment u wud hav noticed that i am talking about a simulatneous league..IPL didnt mean that Ranji or Duleep trophy is extinct..However popularty is less..Also due to IPL youngsters are able to learn and meet their idols like Mcgrath,Warne,Hayden, Kallis, Hussey apart from the Indian Stalwarts..Liek Gaurav said youngsters cud learn from the famous players and dream abt being big like them...Which wud be helpful and import of such gr8 players wud bring media attention worldwide ..which wud be helpful for our youngsters..
ReplyDelete@Jayesh - Talk some sense bro..u r ryt IPL brought youngsters in to picture but only few had life..other were one tourney wonders like Valthathy,Gony, etc..Those leagues are still precious and are important to determine the consistency of players...Ofcourse IPL has helped in reducing regional politics...Hopefully such things would be reduced from the introduction of new league.
@Balkrishna - that was a really gud point however our AIFF could take necessary measures for the same as there are various leagues in the world that are being run in more difficult condtion