Where Is Indian Football Going?

The one thing that can change India’s permanent status as World Cup outsider is a revolution from the ground up.

- Qaiser Mohammad Ali

Beneath the frothy bubble of World Cup hysteria that has Indian football fans by the scruff of their necks, lies the fact—flagrant, unchanged and depressing in its inevitabil­ity: India, a nation of 1.35 billion souls, have never played in a football World Cup in its 88­year history. Some may argue thus: Didn’t India make it to the 1950 World Cup, held in Brazil? The dispiriting answer to that is, that ‘qualification’ came by default, after several Asian countries withdrew after qualifying—and then, the Indian football federa­tion didn’t send a team.

It is shocking how shortsighted Indian football administrators denied a batch of naturally-talented players an opportunity to experience the thrill and pressure of competing in a World Cup 68 years ago. It is all the more bewildering since this brazen act of apathy happened in the middle of Indian football’s ‘Golden Era’—from 1948 to 1964—during which India won several titles under the legendary coach, Syed Abdul Rahim. India’s dismal global football record—and this in a popular sport played widely for a century—includes only a couple of Olympic Games appearances.