A country of 140+ crore people. A country where football runs through the veins of millions. A country where children grow up idolising Messi, Ronaldo and Sunil Chhetri. A country where football stadiums fill up, where ISL clubs are backed by billionaires, global corporations and celebrities.
Yet we still can’t produce a team capable of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup.
Meanwhile, countries with populations smaller than many Indian cities are playing on football’s biggest stage. Some are making their World Cup debut. A nation of barely 6 lakh people can stand toe-to-toe with world football powers, while India continues to watch from the sidelines.
And then we wonder why football struggles to grow.
A village kid who dreams of football should not have to worry about whether he can afford to watch the FIFA World Cup. When the World Cup is locked behind a paywall and even the national broadcaster Doordarshan does not make the entire tournament freely available, what message are we sending to the next generation of footballers?
Inspiration matters. Exposure matters. Access matters. Investment matters.
For decades we built an ecosystem around cricket and got world-class results. Stadiums, academies, broadcasting, sponsorships, pathways. We invested and we got results.
Football cannot survive on passion alone. You get back what you invest. You don’t invest, you don’t get back.
The question isn’t why Jordan, Uzbekistan, Cape Verde, Curaçao or Croatia made it.
The real question is: Why hasn’t India?
140+ crore people. Millions of football fans. Endless passion. Infinite potential.
Still waiting for a footballing vision worthy of the nation.
@IndianFootball@AIFFMedia@IndSuperLeague@prasarbharati@DDNational@FIFAcom@FIFAWorldCup@chetrisunil11@bhaichung15 @IMVijayan10 @SandeshJhingan@GurpreetGK