A Tale of two Stadiums: Ambedkar Stadium and Feroz Shah Kotla

Situated near old Delhi, the fortress of Indian football has been seeing a lot and showing us a lot more in return. Its attributes-a small size, a gliding field, just a single fence separating the players and the spectators, the fans getting into the faces of the opposition, the national anthem in sync and the nehru cup victories, make this a magical place.

The comparison or the epitomisation came to my mind while watching the second leg of the FIFA WC qualifier against UAE. On a regular match day, an electric atmosphere is not a surprise for either a Delhite who follows the national football team or the team members themselves. The difference in this match was that the rains did not affect the interest of the spectators. Umbrellas were not allowed inside,which meant the fans had to endure the water seeping into their clothes and mobile phones. This reflected loyalty and immense desire to stand up to those who were giving it all on the field.

Indian football possesses these attributes but just like the fortress, the scale of its capacity is small. The stadium holds a mere 20,000. Since football in India is not as mainstream as cricket, the fans of the national team remain filtered. Success at a huge level tends to bring about glory hunters even from outside the region. The so called die hard fans who support European nations/clubs and have nothing to do with their own country’s national team or its rare magical moments (upsets against teams of higher rankings). The same is a fact when it comes to the stadium. Not more than a 1000 out of those 20,000 had left the ground when India conceded the 2nd goal and the chances of an upset were virtually over. This observation cleared the filtration test for the faithful at the Ambedkar stadium. Their emotional strength was equally met by the players on the field who never gave up. With dogged persistence they hung on to snatch a draw which was not enough to send India to the next round. On the other hand this late comeback was more than enough to keep the smiles and voices of those who weathered the rains.

Another reason to say that this holy ground is a physical representation of Indian football is the common wall with its neighbouring stadium. The contrasting sizes of the two stadia reflect the growth of their respecting disciplines. Just like cricket does this to football, Feroz Shah Kotla stadium makes the Ambedkar stadium look tiny. One wonders if the situation would have been identical if India were ranked 50 in world cricket, where this hypothetical world would have had 200 countries playing the game. Just maybe, the difference between nationalistic pride and the nationalistic ego might be apparent then, and cricket would solely have cricket fans around the game.

The two stadiums are not just contrasting in size, there are differences between their respective infrastructures and the spectators as well. The crowd in Ambedkar, as mentioned earlier, is purified with respect to loyalty. On the other hand, the IPL matches in Feroz Shah Kotla (which are hosted more frequently than the national team’s matches) consist of a fun evening crowd. More than the passion, the flashes of their cameras flicker alongside the cheerleaders who are conveniently introduced to pull in more crowd. The Bollywood stars who have nothing to do with the game are a bigger attraction than the players. The sole difference between the two crowds is soul (with all due respect to those real cricket fans who come to watch the game and are not included in the “crowd”). The massive applauds at the end of any game at the Ambedkar do not vary with the result of the match.

Each and every player acknowledges the crowd with a massive cheer from the crowd, in return. The other difference between these two places is the infrastructure. Lack of Infrastructure is the missing spine of Indian football. The lack of quality grounds, sustained financial support from the govt and quality coaches reflect this statement. The field of the tiny stadium might be in a good condition, but it still lacks proper drainage as it was apparent in the 2-2 draw when the ball would not glide in the rain.

The facilities in the stadium complex are far from being presentable,forget world class. The intake capacity is 20,000 but 3 out of 4 stands do not have proper seats, just a cemented platform over the other to sit on. The washrooms are horrible to say the least. Firoz Shah Kotla has a world class infrastructure on the other hand. From its capacity to the facilities inside the complex,it’s apparent that one is visiting a stadium of importance. This importance is given from the governing bodies by a regular inflow of funds much like the opposite of the poor younger brother on the other side.

Both the stadium and Indian football, with their limited resources have improved day by day. They are accustomed to getting something from nothing. They have been the underdogs. They have caused upsets against bigger teams. The second most popular sport in the second fastest growing economy in the world must have done something atrocious to be succumbed to these tyrannies of a step brotherly treatment by the bureaucrats, who are supposed to be the flag bearers of sports in India. Sometimes the most obvious fundamental errors result in the most obvious failures. Sometimes one does not need to read between the lines.