Indian & European football – What’s the biggest difference?

Indian & European football – What’s the biggest difference?

You are wrong if you say it is ‘players’!

What is the biggest difference between Indian and European football? Definitely not the players but the infrastructure that shapes them. In the words of the young Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, "The first and foremost thing is the basic infrastructure, the training pitches and the match grounds. They (European countries) are top class and the amount of professionalism in every single department and the level of coaching, how to nurture a player, is also very good and positive.

No doubt, this is the opinion of many more people who are closely involved with the game. One of the ways to promote the sport in India is All India Football Federation and its member associations supporting those football clubs that have good infrastructure. It is also important to discourage those clubs that are inactive and lack facilities. This way, the competition for spots in football clubs increases. A simple process of screening the clubs - both the affiliated and the ones that are yet to receive affiliation – can do a lot of good to the game. Award the best ones, discard the inactive ones, revamp the system right from the bottom-most divisions and you will see the change.

Why not the ones that have good facilities get affiliation of state associations?

The clamor for better football infrastructure is not new in India which currently holds the 141^st place in FIFA World Ranking in men’s football. Unless there is good infrastructure and training facilities, it is hard for any upcoming footballer to be at the top of his game or to play for some of the best-known clubs in the world. Well-equipped clubs that have good grounds, excellent training pitches and great infrastructure can take Indian football to an all new level.