2013 Indian Football Year In Review: Top five highs

1. Under-17 World Cup

Finally it seems sleeping giants India have a reason to wake up and get noticed in world football as the ever-supportive FIFA gave the world’s second most populated country the hosting rights of the 2017 Under-17 FIFA World Cup. Finally Indians will get to see their team in a football World Cup, albeit the under-17 version and hosting it could have plenty of long-term benefits, most notably a significant improvement in infrastructure. AIFF are also confident that India could get to host the FIFA Club World Cup in 2015 and 2016 as dress rehearsals to the U-17 World Cup. Normally Indian football events don’t catch the attention of the masses but this news created an enormous euphoria all around the country with the mainstream media also giving it plenty of coverage. Clearly it has given Indian football a lifeline or in the words of AIFF vice president Subrata Dutta accelerated the commercialisation of the sport in the country.