More power to football!

For Indians, cricket is religion but looks like just as an overdose of ritualistic religion turns off people seeking the Truth, too much cricket and the corruption around it is pushing more and more youth to football. As the world grows smaller, the youth are today exposed to world class football club matches and they see how the game is a global favorite while cricket has a comparatively, smaller audience. The FIFA fever is all set to hit new highs as we get closer and closer to July.

And as the FIFA gets closer, companies are doing their best to invest in football, associate their name with a game, which many believe, will soon give cricket a run for its money. National level football teams are far and few in between and companies like Nike, Coca Cola, Airtel are tying up with grassroot football teams. Nike has become the commercial partner of All India Football Federation and conducts Manchester United Premiere Cup, for those under-15, for the last nine years. This time around, some 27 teams are participating in the match. Manchester United itself has tied up with indigenous clubs such as Mohunbagan and East Bengal in Kolkata and Salgaocar Football Club in Goa. Airtel conducts a 3-month inter school tournament, with 450 schools participating where the lucky few are given the chance to attend a week-long coaching clinic with Manchester United Soccer School coaches. Coca Cola coaches under-15 football players with its U-15 Football Tournament. Star Sports has bought a 30% stake in Indian Football League.

This is great news – India needs another alternative to cricket and it is wonderful to know that football is gaining fast traction. The companies are not only helping identify talent but helping nurture it and creating a generation of football players. They get the visibility at a much lower cost than cricket as this is what will help in the long run. The Indian Super League, something like an IPL for football is expected to soon kick off and it would be good to see companies backing football and taking it all over India, beyond just Goa, West Bengal and Kerala.