How India’s stellar ISL became world football’s fourth biggest league

[SrNair]

That's because T20 butchered other formats of cricket and IPL butchered T20.

Don't make the same mistake with football.

I can agree sir,
Piling up of money both white and black completely addict the IPL.In turn Cricket is degrading in our nation.
ISL would create some best 11 Indian players with world class quality within few season.
Actually that is real priority of Foot ball organizations in India.

especially Mathews goal, that was pure class.

That was one of the best in the tournament.Already we can see some potential future eleven in ISL.

 

[kaku1]

cricket and football are useless occupations... these "indian" fans of isl can better invest their efforts in removing injustice and bringing freedoms and giving some technology to the world...

Well if you are communist, then which is your model country btw? USSR?

 

[jamahir]

Well if you are communist, then which is your model country btw? USSR?

well, true communism to a great extent was what in libyan jamahiriya... there was even a ussr edition of gaddafi's "green book" which was to encourage ussr to replace its single-party dictatorship and move towards the direct-democracy path of true communism which was the original intention that had gotten lost.

full true communism has not yet arrived.

 

[kaku1]

well, true communism to a great extent was what in libyan jamahiriya... there was even a ussr edition of gaddafi's "green book" which was to encourage ussr to replace its single-party dictatorship and move towards the direct-democracy path of true communism which was the original intention that had gotten lost.

full true communism has not yet arrived.

But still, you make a model of a country in a context of present and past communist country. Which one? China?

 

[Matrixx]

Cricket, Hockey, Tennis, Badminton, Kabaddi and now football ...league......India is becoming sports and money hub.....world best players dying to play here for lots of money.....

 

[jamahir]

But still, you make a model of a country in a context of present and past communist country. Which one? China?

not china... though china is guided at some level by the communist party, china has become nationalistic, and nationalism is one of the things communism is against.

i would select venezuela as the present model... venezuela is recreating itself into decentralized direct-democracy communes... this is based on the libya model...

Building Socialism from Below: The Role of the Communes in Venezuela | Global Research

Venezuela: Citizen referendums create new communes | Green Left Weekly

 

[kadamba-warrior]

That's because T20 butchered other formats of cricket and IPL butchered T20.

Don't make the same mistake with football.

That seems unlikely since Football already resembles T20 in format and commercialization, in fact Football was the original T20.

And there's isn't much football in India in the first place to be destroyed. I see it only gaining from here on!

 

[Koovie]

no it wont. They didnt invest in ground infrastructure at all. Unless they putin some money it will be only about sayurav's team vs sachin's team.

Have patience my friend!

 

[Jungibaaz]

That seems unlikely since Football already resembles T20 in format and commercialization, in fact Football was the original T20.

And there's isn't much football in India in the first place to be destroyed. I see it only gaining from here on!

The thing with football is though, the format, rules and style of play hasn't changed in decades upon decades. IPL took T20 cricket, an already bastardised version of the ODI/Test format and added to it. You can't do that with football, unlike T20 and IPL, you can change the commercial parts, but not what happens in game on the pitch.

 

[Koovie]

cricket and football are useless occupations... these "indian" fans of isl can better invest their efforts in removing injustice and bringing freedoms and giving some technology to the world...

Seriously, live and let live.

Saying that something is useless because you dont like it is rubbish dude.

Why is the attendance being compared why not the quality of football instead ?

India has the population of the entire African Continent combined; naturally the numbers are going to favor it.

But the quality of football at the ISL was, with respect, down right atrocious.

Its a step in the right direction but it'll take a couple of decades before homegrown Indian talent flourishes 'cause right now when I watched a couple of ISL matches; the quality of 3rd tier English Football seemed better.

I am sure there are talents in India... and with the success of the first ISL tournament, everyone saw the enormous (financial!) potential of football in India. So we can expect even more investments from the corporate world and thus, more support for football training as well as an higher influx of foreign players.

But you are right that it will take time and effort to spit out world class players....

 

[kadamba-warrior]

The thing with football is though, the format, rules and style of play hasn't changed in decades upon decades. IPL took T20 cricket, an already bastardised version of the ODI/Test format and added to it. You can't do that with football, unlike T20 and IPL, you can change the commercial parts, but not what happens in game on the pitch.

Which is what I was saying too -- that there isn't much scope to bastardize Football because format/duration already are similar to T20 and suits commercialization. In fact, T20 itself evolved to emulate Football format -- atleast in terms of duration of the match.

For the record, IPL didn't change anything significant on the pitch itself -- it just followed ICC T20 format but with additional dry-humping cheerleaders stationed off the pitch.

 

[Armstrong]

Did you see the final ?Kerala and Kolkata?

Did you see the semifinal betweebln Kerala and FC Chennai?
Sometimes I saw a European Quality in there.

No; but I saw plenty of matches in between.

I didn't see anything close to European Quality over there and I've been following football all my life.

I saw quality more akin to 3rd tier of English football or European quality if you're considering some of the smaller leagues in Eastern European nations.

I fear that unlike the IPL which had a cricketing base provided by India herself; ISL may become a last-buck for hasbeens from European football.

Right now most players well beyond their prime who wish to get a last fat pay cheque usually go to the places like the Turkish Super Lig, the Major League Soccer or one of the Arab Leagues which are all greater in quality than the ISL, they may now consider the ISL in a similar vein.

Unless the ISL has rules in place like in Europe where a certain number of home-grown players have to be in the squad irrespective of whichever club you are; the financial implications of it all may override the potential to cultivate footballing talent in India.

IPL didn't face that dilemma because India is a cricketing nation which means that homegrown talent was always available and the obscene amounts of money being thrown about didn't materially hamper the development of domestic cricket in India.

The ISL, on the other hand, is a completely different ball-game; no South Asian nation is even worth mentioning in terms of football. There is no homegrown talent here to speak of and to cultivate it requires careful nurturing. This corporatization of football as it was done for cricket may in turn harm the development of domestic football.

 

[Mike_Brando]

suppose If a person keeps thinking and thinking or keeps doing social job and social job, He/She will ultimately become MAD/CRACK lol
Jamahir sahab you need some fun to maintain the freshness of brain, and how can you keep travelling in a single track for life time?
And why have you added only "indian" fans and not world fans??

Ma'am just leave Mr.Jamahir alone.He has gone nuts these days.The other day he claimed that the R.S.S. and the V.H.P. are as dangerous as the Taliban or Al-Quaeda if not more.He is basically an Islamic fundamentalist in disguise.You will always find him mocking and criticizing the Sanatan Dharma on any pretext.I have seen him for the past 6 months and i have come to the conclusion that he isn't a socialist as he claims rather he is a fundamentalist in the veil of socialism.

 

[SrNair]

No; but I saw plenty of matches in between.

I didn't see anything close to European Quality over there and I've been following football all my life.

I saw quality more akin to 3rd tier of English football or European quality if you're considering some of the smaller leagues in Eastern European nations.

I fear that unlike the IPL which had a cricketing base provided by India herself; ISL may become a last-buck for hasbeens from European football.

Right now most players well beyond their prime who wish to get a last fat pay cheque usually go to the places like the Turkish Super Lig, the Major League Soccer or one of the Arab Leagues which are all greater in quality than the ISL, they may now consider the ISL in a similar vein.

Unless the ISL has rules in place like in Europe where a certain number of home-grown players have to be in the squad irrespective of whichever club you are; the financial implications of it all may override the potential to cultivate footballing talent in India.

IPL didn't face that dilemma because India is a cricketing nation which means that homegrown talent was always available and the obscene amounts of money being thrown about didn't materially hamper the development of domestic cricket in India.

The ISL, on the other hand, is a completely different ball-game; no South Asian nation is even worth mentioning in terms of football. There is no homegrown talent here to speak of and to cultivate it requires careful nurturing. This corporatization of football as it was done for cricket may in turn harm the development of domestic football.

South Asia is not infootball map because of their priority to cricket.Have you heard about the football madness in Kerala generally and Northern Malabar particularly?
Same goes to Bengal.
And the important aim of the ISL is to create a bunch of quality Indian foot ball players.Already we got few of them.Sandesh Jihngan,Sushant Mathew,etc.If you had seen that FC Chennai -Kerala game you wouldnt say this.The last goal of Sushant was classic.
Fact is we already have I league ,Santhosh trophy etc.But noone of this have enough experience with foreign professional players.ISL created that environment.And FYI we have special clause of minimum Indians in each team.
If you want to ignite the football minds of youth you should need top notch players.ISL also create that ignition.

 

[Armstrong]

South Asia is not infootball map because of their priority to cricket.Have you heard about the football madness in Kerala generally and Northern Malabar particularly?
Same goes to Bengal.
And the important aim of the ISL is to create a bunch of quality Indian foot ball players.Already we got few of them.Sandesh Jihngan,Sushant Mathew,etc.If you had seen that FC Chennai -Kerala game you wouldnt say this.The last goal of Sushant was classic.
Fact is we already have I league ,Santhosh trophy etc.But noone of this have enough experience with foreign professional players.ISL created that environment.And FYI we have special clause of minimum Indians in each team.
If you want to ignite the football minds of youth you should need top notch players.ISL also create that ignition.

By that logic Pakistan's Mekran belt is a hotbed of football and in Lyari even gangs enter into a ceasefire before the World Cup thats how much people follow it; this does not mean that quality football is played in Pakistan because for that you need supporting infrastructure which none of our countries has.

Domestic cups mean nothing if there is no supporting infrastructure underneath it and attracting 'top notch' players is very different from attracting European players well beyond their prime looking to make a quick buck.

The ISL is a step in the right direction but its got a lot less to do with 'football' and a lot more to do with 'money' than you guys are willing to accept.