AIFF: Aiming high, falling short

AIFF has hosted three major events since 2017 but the grassroot talent has remained stagnated

As the U-17 Women's World Cup concluded, headlines were already afloat of the potential next big event in India. The All India Football Federation has had no shortage of eye-catching headlines over the years but a suggestion by newly elected president Kalyan Chaubey about exploring the idea of hosting the FIFA World Cup was perhaps the most ambitious of all.

Aspirational, certainly. An errant thought, possibly. Over the past five years, India has hosted three major international competitions, two global and one continental - the men's and women's U-17 World Cup and the AFC Women's Asian Cup. India is also in the running -- along with Saudi Arabia -- to host the men's Asian Cup in 2027. FIFA and AFC head honchos have said they are 'focused on India'. The Government too has shown that they are willing to support sporting activities. The pieces are all there.

Or maybe, the talks of hosting the world's biggest sporting event is another lip service that the AIFF, definitely its previous incarnation, is culpable of. Office bearers have thrown names, plans and numbers with little resembling thought and follow-through over the years. Long-term plans have changed in the short term. Talks of development and predictions of impending qualifications for the World Cup - predictably always eight years into the future lest they be found wanting before they get another chance to extend the timeline - have flowed freely.

AIFF have delivered on hosting major events. At least for now, it would seem that trend is set to continue.

A pertinent question: Far away from qualifying on merit, India is certainly entitled to try and host these events but what legacy have these events left?

"There is the perceived legacy and reality of legacy. Most countries hope that there will be a legacy by hosting World Cups - sometimes it is infrastructure or a chance for the federation to lobby their government to get more funding or improve the level of play in the country," says Tom Bryer a youth coach and writer of Football Starts At Home, currently working in Japan.

Let's break it down then shall we?

The 2017 U-17 World Cup was held across six stadiums - Kolkata, Kochi, New Delhi, Guwahati, Navi Mumbai and Margao. The stadiums received a facelift, not to mention the renovation/addition of 26 training grounds. According to multiple reports, Rs 95 crore was spent on infrastructure development.

The latter two also hosted the U-17 Women's World Cup five years later along with Bhubaneswar while the women's Asia Cup earlier this year was held in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Pune.

There is no dearth of stadiums if India were to host major events. It also has been learned, while the maintenance has been a challenge, most of the training facilities also remain in use - some for the public and others for training football and other sports.

The hope while hosting an event is also to give the home team an advantage and progress well in the tournament, much like South Korea reaching the semifinals when they hosted the World Cup, along with Japan, in 2002.

In the three events they hosted, India finished bottom of their groups, losing all six games while conceding 25 goals across the two World Cups. They scored just one goal. India's women's Asia Cup ended in calamity with the team's bio-bubble getting breached - thanks to a litany of organisational issues - after the first game and were defaulted from the tournament.

India is not on the level to compete at the events and their performance should be looked at taking that into account. No amount of focused training can bridge that chasm.

The federation did try. The 2017 men's team, more precisely the 'probables' squad of 40-50 players, hopped a dozen countries for 'exposure tours' and played 60 friendly games as well as competitive events.

According to the Annual Calendar for Training and Competition (ACTC) 2016-17, Rs 8.3 crore was granted for the preparation for the World Cup of which Rs 4.59 crore was earmarked for international participation and exposure and Rs 1.59 crore for domestic camp between April 2016 and March 2017. Overall, reportedly over Rs 9 crore was spent on exposure tours.

Alarmingly, in the three years building up to the World Cup in 2017, AIFF's budget for grassroots development overall was Rs 3.15 crore. Of the 21-member World Cup squad, only four have played more than 45 games in the Indian Super League in five years.

"There are no such funds," a state association official said curtly when asked about AIFF's help to the states for football development. "Till now they have not allotted any funds for any states. All the budget they have and nothing comes to the states."

In a welcome move, on Thursday, AIFF - now under a new regime - promised Rs 24 lakh to the states to conduct football activities and develop the game.

According to ACTC 2020, the women's team preparation for Asian Cup - including national camp, international training, competition and exposure tours - cost around Rs 2.5 crore. That is the expenditure on less than 40 players whose opportunity was lost cruelly due to the tournament debacle.

Meanwhile, more than Rs 1.1 crore was spent on the women's team preparation - again a camp of around 50 players - for the U-17 World Cup. Not to mention the money spent on hosting the event.

With the domestic structure of women's football held together by a whim and a prayer, unless there is a change in structure the players' future hangs perilously, as does the investment.

What is mentioned above is money allocated by the Sports Authority of India. AIFF's budget also comprises funds from FIFA, AFC and sponsorships. Can anyone blame SAI for slashing AIFF's funding citing poor performance?

While the AIFF was spending freely - focusing on a small pool of players earmarked to wear the Indian jersey for big events - football in India has hardly improved, and the country still languishes around the 100-rank mark. There is also little proof that any of these events have caused any discernable increase in interest or level of football.

The football heads seem to be making an oft-repeated mistake and, in many places including India, proven not to be very successful in development.

"If the team does well, then there is hope. India has been hosting big tournaments but the question is on the performance. Are the players and coaching getting better?" asks Bryer.

"We have some countries there is a football culture in place that is conducive to player development. Often other countries focus on the elite side but in reality, there has to be much investment in families and parents."

Scott O'Donnell, former Technical Director at AIFF who left in 2017, agrees.

"One of the challenges in India was that not many states had competitions. Those that did, it was not very long," he says.

"I'm not a big fan of hosting events for the sake of it. I was there for the preparation of the U-17 boys' World Cup. The money spent on that team... they travelled all over... can you imagine what that money could have done for the boys and girls if it was spent on coach education and grassroots?" asks O'Donnell, now with the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).

The Australian - it must be said - resigned from his post at the AIFF.

"It's great that they are investing in infrastructure. Why not invest in it without having to host those competitions? A lot of countries that don't have the infrastructure invest in player development and coach education."

Japan and South Korea - now World Cup regulars and powerhouses in Asia - have had a long-term vision and stuck to basics. Something for India to learn from.

According to Bryer, grassroots football in Japan is a volunteer system. Kids between 6-12 years are coached by volunteers and parents on school grounds and clubs.

The Japan Football Association created a movement to stress the importance of focusing on technique at the lower age group by using television, magazines, comic books, events, school programmes and newspapers to get the message across. The coaching and tactical part come later.

In India too, this has been proven to work on a small scale with Mizoram and Manipur being the biggest examples.

FAM, meanwhile, has started youth competitions in eight states across Malaysia, soon to be more, starting from U-6 to U-16 age groups.

In India, around 15 states conduct no grassroots football and face no consequence from the national body, according to sources.

India has opted for a top-down model in football and one that focuses on the national team. However without a strong football culture nationwide, a wide talent pool, low number of games and scattered youth development, financial and technical planning, we have run blindly, bouncing off one wall after another.

So what is the legacy of hosting these major events and possibly more? Time will tell but we may not like it.