Civil Procedure Entertainment & Sports Law Report: Indian Football

This report examines the decline of football in India, attributing it to several key factors. The lack of adequate infrastructure, including substandard stadiums and coaching facilities, is identified as a significant impediment. Insufficient funding from both the All India Football Federation and individual clubs further hinders development, especially in comparison to investments in cricket. The report highlights the overwhelming popularity of cricket, fueled by historical successes and extensive media coverage, which overshadows football and limits its appeal. Societal and parental pressure, which often favors cricket as a career path, also plays a role. Furthermore, the report emphasizes the lack of media coverage for football, reducing its visibility and hindering its growth. The conclusion suggests that addressing these issues, particularly funding, infrastructure, and media attention, is crucial to improving the status of football in India.

Running head: CIVIL PROCEDURE ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS LAW
CIVIL PROCEDURE ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS LAW
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CIVIL PROCEDURE ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS LAW
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Why football is always a mishap in India........................................................................................2
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
Football is a very beautiful game which entertains all the viewers across the globe. The
pinnacle of the Indian National Football team came in between 1951 to 1962. At that time, they
claimed lots of silverwares. In 1950, Brazil hosted the World Cup, but the AIFF refused to send
the Indian Football Team1. AIFF said that, they did not have a huge amount of fund for sending
the team. After that, football lost its popularity and the team became insignificant in the Asian
Football. In 2014, India bagged 171 out of 206 FIFA Associated Nations. There are several
factors for which Indian Football Team becomes insignificant in the globe.
In this report, the several reasons behind the football mishap in India are discussed2. This
part of the report contains the lack of infrastructure, lack of funding, cricket craziness, societal
and parental pressure and lack of media coverage.
Why football is always a mishap in India
There are many reasons for which football becomes the mishap in India. These are as
follows:
 Lack of infrastructure
Over the last few years, football players of India have blamed the lack of
infrastructure regarding the progress of the football. Till 2015, India did not have any
1 Bhavnani, R.R. and Copelovitch, M., 2020. The Political Impact of Economic Shocks:
Evidence from India’s 2016 Demonetization.
2 Binu, A., 2020. EFFECT OF VISION TRAINING AMONG SKILL ABILITY OF
FOOTBALL PLAYERS. Indian Journal of Applied Research, 10(1).

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single stadium that met the standards stipulated by FIFA. Before the under 19 FIFA
world cup 2017, FIFA provided grades to some football stadiums in India. They involved
the host stadiums for the world cup in Delhi, Kolkata, Navi Mumbai, Goa and Kochi.
But most of the domestic stadiums are not able to meet the standards of FIFA. There are
no proper coaching facilities available for the young footballers3. It also forces a football
player to change his or her professional. Domestic stadiums have some distorted ground.
In some domestic grounds, there is no dressing room for the players. It happens because
of lack of availability of funds from central as well as state government.
 Lack of funding
Lots of Indian Football fans are said that lack of funding is the major cause of the
deeper malaise in Indian football. All India Football Federation is not able to provide
adequate funding to the different football clubs in India. For that reason, it is hardly
possible for football clubs to produce efficient football players for the national team4. It
also hampers the development of youth players for the Indian Football. A club named
Bayern Munich invests five million euros (INR 36 crore approximately) for the
development of youth players. It is highlighted by the former president Uli Hoeness.
Most of the Indian football clubs have a lack of fan base. It hampers the generation of
revenue from football. For that reason, corporate companies do not show their interest to
invest in those clubs.
3 Kamble, A.G., 2020. Role of ICT in Physical Education. Our Heritage, 68(50), pp.374-377.
4 Mangal, A., 2020. A century of teacher education in India: 1883-1985. Espacio, Tiempo y
Educación, 7(1), pp.263-285.

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 Cricket craziness
The increase in the popularity of cricket occurs after the wining of the Indian Cricket
Team in 1983 World Cup Cricket. It is created a miracle in Indian cricket history. It
changed the destiny of the Indian Cricket. After that, cricket became more popular among
the common people of India. It increases the investment in Indian cricket and cricket in
India becomes commercial5. There is a huge amount of prestige as well as glamour in
cricket in India. People of India treat the cricket as the fifth Veda or fourth religion after
Hinduism, Muslims, and Christens. Cricket is not the national sport of India. But the
common people of India treat cricket as a festival. It is responsible to decrease the
popularity of football in India. If a person becomes a good cricketer, then society
encourages him or her. But if a person becomes a successful football player, then the
society discourages him or her for choosing football as his or her career.
 Societal and Parental pressure
There is a huge amount of glamour and prestige associated with cricket in India6. It
becomes a major issue in Indian football. Parent wants their children to become a rich
person and wants to brag the rights of other parents. It is the common nature of Indian
parents. If a person is adopting cricket as his or her career, then he or she is actively
encouraged by pursuing sports. If he or she chooses football as his or her career then
5 Mathew, M., 2020. Sports literature is a necessary need: A viewpoint from the Indian education
perspective. Studies in Indian Place Names, 40(3), pp.1018-1033.
6 Naz, F. and Bögenhold, D., 2020. Understanding labour processes in global production
networks: a case study of the football industry in Pakistan. Globalizations, pp.1-18.

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society will discourage him or her from taking such a career option. It is not at all
surprising when cricket is taken off; India equates “education” with “grades and marks”.
 Lack of media coverage
Media plays an important role in spreading awareness among the common people in
India. The popularity of a particular sport totally depends on the media coverage involved
in it7. Over the years, the Indian media industry plays a vital role in promoting cricket.
For that reason, cricket becomes the most popular sport in India. A huge amount of
money is invested in the media industry to promote Indian Cricket in national as well as
international level. But, football is not able to reap in the advantages of media coverage.
For that reason, many sports lovers are not able to watch many live matches of Indian
Football. Due to the lack of attention provided by the media, decreases the popularity of
Indian Football in an exponential manner8. For that reason, it is hardly possible for a
person to know the names of many players of the Indian Football Team. Lack of media
coverage decreases the popularity of many club football programs drastically. In the case
of Western countries, all the sports are getting equal importance for media coverage.
Indian media is still focused on cricket and does not focus much on football.
7 Padamraj, P.U., 2020. IMPACT OF SPORT ON INDIAN SOCIETY. Our Heritage, 68(50),
pp.242-251.
8 Pehlivan, H., 2020. Football for the nation and against separatism the cases of Diyarbakırspor
and Amedspor (Doctoral dissertation).

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Conclusion
Because of the colonization, football loses its popularity in India. But Cricket gains its
popularity in India. Cricket is played by any people irrespective of its body type. It is very true
that a lack of funding and lack of infrastructure, football loses its importance in India. Media also
do not give special focus to football. For that, it is hardly possible to improve the position of
football in India.

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References
Bhavnani, R.R. and Copelovitch, M., 2020. The Political Impact of Economic Shocks: Evidence
from India’s 2016 Demonetization.
Jha, S. and Dixit, A., 2020. Media Trial in India with Special Reference to Social and Legal
Issues. Our Heritage, 68(30), pp.2783-2792.
Kamble, A.G., 2020. Role of ICT in Physical Education. Our Heritage, 68(50), pp.374-377.
Mangal, A., 2020. A century of teacher education in India: 1883-1985. Espacio, Tiempo y
Educación, 7(1), pp.263-285.
Mathew, M., 2020. Sports literature is a necessary need: A viewpoint from the Indian education
perspective. Studies in Indian Place Names, 40(3), pp.1018-1033.
Naz, F. and Bögenhold, D., 2020. Understanding labour processes in global production
networks: a case study of the football industry in Pakistan. Globalizations, pp.1-18.
Padamraj, P.U., 2020. IMPACT OF SPORT ON INDIAN SOCIETY. Our Heritage, 68(50),
pp.242-251.
Pehlivan, H., 2020. Football for the nation and against separatism the cases of Diyarbakırspor
and Amedspor (Doctoral dissertation).