Bright Future for Indian Football

Football, the most viewed sport with over 3.5 billion passionate followers across the universe. 'The Beautiful game' as it is referred too has created not just a love for the game but it has also given birth to incredible talent in the likes of today greats such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi and icons in the past such as Pele, Maradona and so on...

This sport predominantly dominated by the Europeans and the South Americans has seen other countries not just pick up the sport and perform better in recent times, but also produce exceptional talent who go on to play in the top leagues in Europe and rest of the world.

Development of Indian Football in the past few years has been very promising with few talented youngsters realizing their dreams by being picked up by top Spanish clubs in recent headlines. But that all boils down to the way Indian Football has advanced to promote the countries young talent for top clubs around the world to take notice.

With a strong focus on developing grassroots in the country by applying foreign techniques and appointing highly qualified foreign coaching staff as well as experienced Indian coaches to bring about a change to Indian Football. The domestic leagues has gotten more demanding as well as professional with big Indian teams such as East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC who have not only gone on to script history, but more importantly put Indian football on the global map and make countries around the world take notice on the development and quality of Indian Football.

The future seems bright for Indian Football as in 2017 India gets ready to host it's first ever FIFA event, the FIFA U-17 world cup. Which will provide great exposure to the country's youth. India has never been short of talent in respect to Football, in every passing generation there have been few promising players who have the talent to play for any competitive leagues around the world, it was the lack of exposure and an effective system in terms of agents representing players and an ineffective scouting system which denied them the chance to not just fulfill their ambition, but also understand and build on the nuances of the sport. But it has drastically changed today with the governing body of football in India (AIFF) implementing the necessary system in place to tackle these issues.

The last year or so has seen a major development for Football in India, with our U-17 boys (Indian Colts) taking part as well as hosting the inaugural BRICS tournament and AFC U-16 championship which saw the Indian Clots put on fearless performances against top sides in Asia as well as around the world in competing with the likes of Brazil, Russia and China. In respect to the Indian domestic league and in Asia, history was scripted very recently with Bengaluru FC becoming to first Indian club to reach the final of the AFC CUP narrowly losing out to the Iraqi side Air Force Club after giving everything on the field and most importantly giving hope to many youngsters out there that being a professional footballer in India and competing at the highest level is realistic now. 2016 also saw two talented Indian youngsters Ishan Panditha and Ashique Kuruniyan being picked up by top-flight Spanish sides CD Leganes and Villarreal.

The future of Indian Football seems to be heading in the right direction as the President of FIFA Gianni Infantino, in his recent visit to India was extremely happy with the proceedings of the U-17 world to be held next year and also had kind words to say about how India has progressed in developing the sport in the country, and also with the national side leap-frogging in the rankings to 137th place in the FIFA rankings and with AIFF planing a major overhaul to the domestic league as well as a proposed women's league, it is a positive sign for Football in India. In terms of strengthening the grassroot level with the introduction of the AIFF U-16 Youth League, last year it was the AIFF U-15 Youth League which has been fruitful to the development of Indian Football and identifying potential talent to represent the country as well as other clubs in India and with recent headlines even foreign clubs too.

It is only a matter of time we witness the national team challenge bigger sides in the best tournaments and also see many young talented footballers from India ply their trade in top-flight foreign leagues across the globe as well as in India.