A Stage For The World

India is all set to not only participate in its first global football tournament, but will also host the best young teams on the planet. It must ensure this lays the foundation for progress

- Tanmoy Mookherjee

ON DEC. 5, 2013, India’s dreams of becoming a football nation finally achieved some form of fruition as it bagged the rights to host the 17th edition of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup. In the history of FIFA’s prestigious football tournaments, across age groups and genders, this is the first time India will participate in a global football event. Unlike the fiasco in the lead up to the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the preparation this time wasn’t the challenge as the All India Football Federation (AIFF), with help from FIFA at various junctures, ensured infrastructure was thoughtfully laid-out and on schedule.

The added pressure of being a participating host nation meant putting together a capable team. And for all that the country has experienced in its journey of bringing in the monies and fans through the Indian Super League (ISL), and hosting of frequent senior friendlies, the system couldn’t contribute to the junior set-up. Remember South Africa hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup?

For most footballing nations, the Under-17 tournament—Under-16 until 2007—acts as a foundation for junior players rising up the ranks in professional football with the aim of representing senior teams of their respective countries. For India, though, it was a different beast altogether. Unlike other football nations, India didn’t have a junior league until 2015, where players come through academies set up by local football clubs. Until 2015, nearly two years after India won the bid, they hadn’t even started preparing a team for the competition.