Indian football stares into the abyss, undermining FSDL has hit hard

FSDL has lost Rs 5,000 crore in the last 15 years and yet, was willing to run the course and be a part of the football growth story.

Indian football is facing a battle for survival. To imagine a country’s national league doesn’t get a bid for a commercial partner shows how dire the situation is. It is grim and we can’t overemphasise it in all honesty.

This brings me to two things. FSDL. For the longest time I have heard social media revolutionaries claim FSDL has done nothing. Fair enough. And we have also seen some people try to stop the partnership at the Supreme Court from continuing. Each one of these people should now be questioned for the damage they have caused to the sport.

FSDL has lost Rs 5,000 crore in the last 15 years and yet, was willing to run the course and be a part of the football growth story. FSDL ensured football was brought to the mainstream by putting on the best broadcast production, marketed the game across the country instead of a few states, got stable team owners, ensured stability of finances to the ecosystem (AIFF/players/referees/coaches).

Remember they came in and stepped into the shoes of Zee who was abandoning Indian football, and paid the AIFF approximately in excess of Rs 700 crore over the years, they ensured football was not abandoned. Now they were stopped from doing so with people questioning motive and showing unrealistic scenarios in front of the apex court. It was projected that the AIFF tender was a gold mine and that FSDL was exploiting it. In reality, it is a loss-making proposition with no bidders. The reality has hit us hard and the real sufferers will be the fans and the players. None of these men who pushed the game to the brink will suffer for they will continue with their lives uninterrupted.

What’s the way forward for the game from here on? One thing is for certain. In its current form, the tender doesn’t appeal to anyone. It is one-sided and doesn’t protect the commercial partner. Second, the ISL isn’t happening in December and might not even happen this season. I am not even thinking about what happens to India’s continental license thereafter. May I also say it reflects extremely poorly on the AIFF top brass. To not be able to generate a bid is poor and they should all be held accountable.

In the case of cricket, the Supreme Court allowed for modifications to the Lodha reforms and since then multiple changes were incorporated into the original order. The AIFF needs to do the same. They need to go back and speak up for football and what is realistic. To ruin the game can’t help anyone. To think things which will never work is foolish. Indian football isn’t a lucrative property and the reality needs to be understood. Anyone who wishes to spend money on the property needs to be welcomed with open arms and not pushed away. The AIFF needs to communicate this to all stakeholders and work its way around the mess.

The next weeks will determine how committed the AIFF is. It will also determine where Indian football is headed. And in this, the men who have done the damage should be forced to stay away. They sold a dream which never existed. Indian football and the players will now pay a price for it. If FSDL is still keen, there has to be a way to get them involved and forge a new partnership. It is the only solution in sight and the powers-that-be need to see the writing on the wall and make it happen.