| 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.
