Is IPL style league the need of the hour?

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.  

What if Wayne Rooney was ever an Indian Footballer?

Wayne Rooney 

Wayne Rooney, charismatic England international, is one of the finest players the world has ever seen. The player has an incredible fan following throughout the globe and has achieved almost everything which other protagonist in his field failed to do. I have specially assumed Wayne Rooney to be part of this scenario because he is always bound with controversies and that qualifies him to be an Indian sportsman.

I would like to bring in some of the events which could have possibly happened, if he was ever part of Indian National Team.

The star in the blue jersey has all started waving his magic for the national team.  He has now turned out to be more popular than Sachin Tendulkar (but still far behind Rajnikanth). The people are now slowly turning their attention towards football from cricket. Rooney has now become more important for media compared to Dhoni.

Some of the series of things which would have happened are as follows:

Wayne Rooney linked up with Poonam Pandey:

If any sportsman is popular in India then they have to be ultimately linked up with a Bollywood star. So Poonam Pandey, a model very close to sporting fraternity for all wrong reasons, is perfect for this. The stories about them being in relationship are fueling in tabloids and have become one of the major events in the country.

 Wayne Rooney in a reality show:

How can reality show producers waste this opportunity? We have already seen Baichung Bhutia in ‘Jhalak Dikhlaja’, so Rooney cannot miss this opportunity. The whole country is now watching Rooney dancing on some Bollywood numbers. This has resulted in skipping his practice sessions, leading it to a battle with team management.

Rooney in a rally with Congress:

If popular and with controversies, one is qualified to become a politician in India. Rooney having these special qualities has now automatically become part of a political rally. In his speech he would have claimed that, “in his childhood he never had a ground to play, but when congress came to power he got football grounds and that is why he has reached this heights today.” He would have appealed the masses to vote for congress.

In the end Rooney hang his boots.

This must have seemed to be funny but this is what happens in India. The reason behind this blog was not to show the negativity in the country. This was a prior warning to all Indian Footballers who are all ready to be part of fame and fortune in near future.

The love for football is increasing, recently in Facebook I saw 1123 comments on news related to Indian football and 2225 people liking it. It is clearly evident that football is getting popular in India. This seems to be a good indication but as it said, “More the power more the responsibility.”

I would like to apologize if this blog has hurt sentiments of any person!