Why Indian footballers fail to make it to European clubs

Sunit Chhetri famously missed out on the chance to represent Premier League club QPR as he was denied a work permit on the grounds of India's FIFA ranking

As we know, till date only four Indians have made the cut to foreign football. They are Bhaichung Bhutia, Sunil Chhetri, Mohammed Salim and Varin Mehta. Isn’t it a disgrace where a country like India enjoys lot of support of football as a game, but still there are only 4 players who have played competitive football till date? The crossover to Europe is the hardest, for the leagues in the continent are arguably the best in the world. There are many reasons behind why Indian footballers have not made it yet. During a conversation I had with East Bengal midfielder Mehrajuddin Wadoo, he was very optimistic about Indian football and revealed the main reason for Indians not making the crossover to Europe.

“I think one of the biggest reasons is that India is ranked well below 100 in the FIFA rankings. And if any footballer wants to play for an EPL club and gain the necessary work permit, he is at a disadvantage if he is from a nation ranked below the top 100. Also, footballers in Europe are physically and technically more sound that Indians, thus explaining why our players don’t make the crossover”

I discussed the same with more football fans and reached the following conclusions:-

1. The lack of a decent platform at the grassroots level:-

Apart from the Tata Football Academy and the Mohun Bagan SAIL Football Academy, there is no proper academy to groom youngsters in the country. These two academies that do exist, lack dynamic technical staff though they have good coaches. This is the main reason the growth of Indian football is so retarded, and why we languish consistently so low in FIFA rankings.

2. Quality of football fields:-

Apart from the Salt lake and Ambedkar stadium, we have not seen any turf where the grass has been evenly shaved. Generally, whenever you will see top European clubs, their stadiums and pitches are fantastic to play on. In most of the stadiums in India the pitch have brown patches, which is not good for sliding tackles as it may injure a player. Also the grass is too thin, often absent in certain patches and is a real factor in our players not being able to adapt well on foreign soil since they are so used to the bouncing of the ball rather than it staying put on the surface.

3. The lack of exchange programmes between our country and European clubs:

This is an optimistic suggestion that is pretty far away from reality right now. Perhaps with good funding, a partnership can be laid with European clubs where Indian players will be sent to gain valuable international exposure. It can also help our coaching staff to learn from the best in the business and gain valuable lessons on proper tactics and grooming players, thus carrying them over to implement in improving grass roots level football in India.

4. The low standard of I-League:-

The I-League has not improved its standards in the past decade despite being backed by corporate sponsors. The timings of the matches is absurd, given that India is a hot and humid country. I fail to understand why the management prefers to start I-league in the noon. Also the foreign players we have, apart from Toglay and Odafe, are sub-standard. If we do not interact with the best in Asia and the Asia-Pacific and the decent players from Europe, we will continue to lack proper technical knowledge on the game.