Everyone is watching the transitions in Chinese football.
In a country of more than one billion people, the Chinese decision-makers have decided that now is the time for the next stage in the country’s football development. Academies for youngsters, money spent in each club and many world-class players and managers, are all part of a national mission that has a great vision for the future.
While China will see the results of this mission in the long-term, there is another huge country in the same region that is doing the exact opposite. India is one step closer to the end of the local football scenario in the short-term. It seems that nothing could help or change it.
In few months, the ISL, Indian Super League, will kick off its 3rd season. Eight franchises, full of cricket superstars' money and players in their late 30s, and everything looks great. Unfortunately, the reality is completely different. The ISL season lasts for only two and a half months, but that’s enough to get all the attention, while the I-League, the league that is fully operated by the India Football Association, can't keep up with this pace.
I-League clubs are the real Indian football. Indian clubs with tradition and history are the core of the league. Since the ISL was established, it became impossible for the I-League clubs to compete with the attractive new teams. The clubs that still keep the league alive are the Kolkata rivals, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, two of the oldest teams in India. In recent seasons, a third club has joined them, Bengaluru, which has an extremely big fan base.
Apart from these three clubs, the future is not so bright for the smaller clubs. Last season, three clubs were withdrawn from the league due to "lack of long-term vision". Now two more clubs have also been withdrawn, Sporting Goa and Salgaocar, two of the major I-League clubs. After years of a competitive league of 12 clubs, next season there will only be 8 clubs. The danger is that there is a serious possibility that these actions will lead to even more clubs leaving the league.
The fans, the people, are all left behind in this process that is changing domestic football in India dramatically. The traditional teams are no longer relevant in terms of salary and competitive environment, while the ISL franchise teams are spending huge money on players who will leave India shortly after the end of the season and who won’t really help football in the country develop. Indian players are watching carefully how they are now the minor players in the ISL circus.
The World Cup qualifiers showed how Indian football has suffered a big decline. Iran and Oman are not teams that India should be beating, but they also lost twice to Turkmenistan and had another defeat against Guam, two of the minnows of Asian football. Just 8 years ago, India won the AFC Challenge Cup, a tournament for developing football countries in Asia, but now they are far behind their opponents in these tournaments.
The coming year will be a decisive one for the next generation of Indian players. India will host the AFC U-16 Championship and the FIFA U-17 World Cup a year later. As things currently stand, India has no chance of fielding a competitive side in either of these competitions. This is the clear result of the bad actions of Indian football decision-makers. The big question will be whether anyone even cares as long as the money keeps flowing.