Shaji Prabhakaran says India need collaborative effort to develop football

Bengaluru, August 10: Despite an array of recent initiatives, football in India still has not escaped from the clutches of enduring woes like poor infrastructure. Shaji Prabhakaran, the former FIFA Regional Development Officer, is one of the persons who would like to see football emerging as a major sports in the country and works tirelessly to that end.

Recently, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has accepted his book - Back to the Roots - as a relevant guide. It is a siginificant step at a time when India are getting ready to host the FIFA Under-17 World Cup. Touching base with myKhel.com, Shaji looked at some points like introducing an institutional league and reviving local tournaments to infuse more steam into football in India.

Excerpts:

Your book - Back to the Roots - has been integrated into the AFC's football management course. How big a moment this is for you?

It's a great honour. The whole purpose behind writing the book was to spread knowledge that I acquired over the years, so that the right kind of work takes place at grassroots level and the football development is addressed the right way. In that sense, it's satisfying to see my effort reaching to the people and the decision makers.

Since the title of your book reminds us of the entry level football, what do you think has to be done to improve the standards of the game at grassroots level in the country?

First, you need to have a collaborative effort because India is a huge country. The government has to take a lead role and the private sector too need to come on board. Football is a low cost, high impact game, so there are ample investment opportunities. There are people who invest in football out of their passion. But we still have many gaps to cover. Additionally, nurturing sports is also about promoting a healthy and value-filled life style, and a unifying force as well. India's economy is also on the right direction, so the investment options are also widening. But for all this, various ministries should join hands with the Sports Ministry.

In recent years, India have witnessed a flurry of footballing activities such as ISL, an increasing club culture etc...a move in the right direction.

In India, most of the initiatives have come in the last five years. So, there is time to find the right way. Yes, it's good to see that investment is happening in football, but they have to ensure that the effort is sustained and create value. Otherwise the game will suffer. So, they need to create a sustainable model. All these investors are successful enterprenuers, and I'm sure that they are treating this as a trial phase and more serious effort is on the way. Things are going to stabilise soon.

If you look a couple of decades back, some states had lively domestic tournaments like the Chakola Trophy in Kerala. But now, several of them are dormant. Is it hurting football in the country?

See, many of these tournaments had seen the participation of big clubs. That was their thread to attract the crowd. Of course, there was little local flavour too. Some people will say all these tournaments died after the I-League started. A league is fundamental for any country to develop football. It gives you a structured kind of competition and from which you can develop a national team. So, these local tournaments should have adjusted to the league schedule because the participation of a Mohun Bagan, East Bengal or JCT is mandatory for them to fetch the crowd.

So, these tournaments were operating on a wrong foundation. But they should have made an effort to continue with the local teams to sustain the regional interest but according to a well-planned calendar so that they won't clash with the League. But they never travelled on that road and gradually sponsors too withdrew. So, a long-term plan is needed to bring them back to life.

We also had some wonderful department teams in the past like - Kerala Police, Indian Bank, Central Excise, ITI - but not too many of them are active these days. A point of worry because they offered opportunity for players and the security of a job. How can we revive them?

See, that's why two years ago I had proposed to AIFF to initiate an institutional league and last month it got approved. Now, we will have an institutional league. My point was that these departments were giving employment to footballers. And it is unwise to ignore employment opportunities for sportspersons. It is also an encouragment for people to take up football. So, we can't say only those professional clubs can be engaged in promoting the game. Look, some of the top talents in the country had come through the departmental teams in the past. But due to some rules and stipulations the scenario has changed and even the departments felt: 'why we should invest in football?'

Worries have been compounded because there was no proper stage like an institutional league for them to play except those departmental meets or local tourneys. They failed to attract the management. Yes, we are a little late. But if we can put up an institutional league the departments will return to the footall mainstream and open up more opportunities - employment/sports - for players.

See, India do not have that many professional clubs to absorb all the available talent, at present. So, department teams can be a blessing. It will also add lot more value to football as players even at local level can settle into a good job. I am sure it will attract lot more people to play football.