I-League: JSW Group may find the going tough in their first season

The new kid on the Indian football block, JSW Group, the newly inducted I-League team belonging to the $ 15 billion Jindal steel conglomerate, will find the going tough in their first season of India’s premier division.

Having got the nod to play in the I-League from the All India Football Federation only yesterday, although given the financial and political clout of the owners and their proximity to the powers that be in the federation, they may have had foreknowledge of the decision many moons earlier, JSW will start with a disadvantage as compared to the existing clubs vis-a-vis the availability of top rated players as most of them will be holding existing contracts with the clubs or may have already been poached before the season ended.

A window of opportunity has, however, opened for JSW, who will play their home matches in Bangalore, as the Pailan Arrows players are reportedly available in the transfer market, what with the sponsors of the team not interested in continuing their association with football due to paucity of funds. The Pailan Arrows players, however, are being assiduously wooed by rival clubs as well.

As of today, JSW Group representatives said they were not in a position to make any statement on team composition or team management, but given the flood of coaches now out of contract, it is understood that they will have no problem on zeroing on the right candidate. In fact, they may well have done so. If they have lavish budgets, the team can also hire the best foreigners in the business and remain competitive in the I-League without the threat of relegation hanging over the heads.

On the other hand, Mumbai Tigers, who also booked their corporate ticket to the I-League, will be blessed with the experience of having already played a season under their belt. They have got a fairly competent team already which, however, shockingly disintegrated in the second division qualifiers.

JSW today put out a press release in which team owner Sajjan Jindal has been quoted as saying,”We believe these are exciting times for Indian football and are happy to be entering the league at this stage. We would like to thank the All India Football Federation for awarding us the Bangalore franchise. The popularity of football is growing rapidly in India and we are excited at the opportunity to do our bit to enhance the standards of the beautiful game. In keeping with JSW philosophy of building a strong India, we hope to build a strong and successful football franchise.”

A few years ago, Praful Patel, AIFF chief, had appointed Sajjan Jindal as the chairman of the I-League committee and Venugopal Dhoot of Videocon Industries as the deputy chairman. They were tasked with finding sponsors for the I-League, a task which the duo could not quite live up to. The AIFF later appointed IMG-Reliance as its marketing agents who also were not successful on this front.

Jindal has, however, delivered on his intentions to start an I-League team. So let’s welcome JSW to the Indian football party and may they make a difference.