Football in North East: Things hindering the progress

There are only two things that bind the seven sisters of the North East together: Football and Music. Introduced by the British during their rule, the game of football has a die-hard following in all the seven states. It has done what no politician or administration has been able to achieve, unite the people and break the cultural barriers there; it would shock any outsiders to know that there is a new culture and language every 100 kilometers. It has got many people through turbulent times, so it isn’t a big deal here to find stadiums packed whenever there is a football match being played.

The North East has some of the most passionate football fans in the country supporting clubs like Lajong FC

Being a football fan and a North Eastern myself, I have always admired the contributions the players from here have given to the national team. Players like Dr. Talimeren Ao, Renedy, Jeje, Surkumar, Seikhao Tuboi and many others have grown in these tough parts of the country where guns speak louder than words and well the saying “A pen is mightier than a sword “ doesn’t apply here. People from Shillong might know about the Fire Brigade ground there which gets packed with football crazy kids filling it up every morning and evening. You will find kids as young as six juggling balls in the cold morning weather. Recently, there has been a lot of buzz about North Eastern Football especially with clubs like Ar Hima, United Sikkim, Wahingdoh and Lajong ( forget the controversies for a moment) coming into the national scene and bringing skills and style to the Indian Football scene. But there are a lot of things that will surely hinder the development of football there. Here are a few things that many budding footballers will have to go through before they can even make it to the national scene.

Violence

Manipur, Assam and Nagaland are synonymous with militancy and Manipur is famous among the three for having more than forty different militant outfits in one small state that is hardly half the size of Haryana. Kids in Manipur hardly have a hundred days of classes in one academic year and there are more bandhs and curfews than holidays. There are a lot of clubs here that can produce and have produced quality players in the past but have failed to grow because of militancy. NISA from Imphal was the only team in the I-League two to not field a foreign player in the previous years because it is certain that any signs of prosperity for any businessman or organization in Manipur means extortion threats from militants there ( Imagine paying ransom money to four different groups). Teams based in Guwahati, Shillong or Sikkim only have the best chances to make it to the I-league. Teams from other places will not be as lucky as Lajong or Wahingdoh to make it big in the Indian scene as no corporate will sponsor any team there because they would surely find a big ransom note hanging in their door steps.

Terrain

The hills of the Northeast have always captivated tourists that visit them but they are in a way enemy to the fooballers of the North East. Places like Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya are very hilly and there are very few flat grounds there for players to play on. In fact, Aizawl the capital of Mizoram has only one ground that can host matches and that too belongs to the Assam Rifles. The players there will definitely have a hard time developing their game there as there are no decent grounds to play on.

Government

Even the Government officials of the North Eastern states are big football fans but it never hurts them to pocket some money for themselves. The state governments of the North Eastern states are infested by heavily corrupt officials who don’t mind leaving the state of the beautiful game in a bad state. Bureaucracy and selfishness rules the North East, take the example from the things that went on between the Meghalaya Sports Minister and the FIFA official who came to inspect the development of the ground there. The minister denied knowing about an artificial turf being laid in Shillong when the news about it was already a big splash from about 8 months ago. Shillong is such a small city that things like news of an artificial turf being laid in the city is known to almost everyone there.

There are a few more things that will make it very difficult for North East players to make it big in the Indian scene like the lack of youth development and training facilities. If the North East wants to see its players playing in the Indian National team, it has to beat the likes of Kerala, Goa and Punjab in player development and infrastructure. My only prayer is that teams like United Sikkim,Wahingdoh and NISA make it to the I league in the coming years as it would give us more channels to have our footballers get noticed and that a future Rennedy or Bhhaichung doesn’t lose out on the competition.

Well I hope my article doesn’t make some Indian football fans angry like my previous post did.