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Now, on to the goal post!

Photo: Paul Noronha

HAVING A BALL Children enjoying a game of football

A beautiful game! On the huge international canvas of entertainment, this fascinating sport, symbolising speed, strength and endurance, not to forget the intricate skills, makes for some alluring viewing, even when it is played by kids in a backyard field.

Football, for generations, has attracted mass following, among the rich and the poor alike. Battles have been fought on the football pitch with far greater intensity than on the borders. Superiority in football has meant a matter of life and death for the fans, players, administrators.

The captivating stuff that unfolded during the recent Euro extravaganza has once again stirred the imagination of the youth in the country. There are indications that point to a surge among kids in urban India, in metros especially, to pursue football on a scale bigger than ever before.

“I have been flooded with requests from parents,” said Tarun Roy, a former international, who now runs an academy in South Delhi. The sight of a Fernando Torres moving stealthily behind a defender and slipping in to slot a winner or a Christiano Ronaldo bolting at a scorching pace to leave the defence tugging at his shadow has created a huge passion for the game.

In a cricket-crazy India, football has managed to hold its place despite lack of support on all fronts – from the society to the corporate world. There was a time when football enjoyed the patronage of some big houses, and even film stars. Dilip Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Pran were some big names who supported various football clubs. Mithun Chakravarty, a football fanatic, boasts of a club that has produced some state players in Bengal. But sponsorship for football has remained an issue.

It would be unfair to compare football with cricket in terms of financial gains for a player. The salaries that the cricketers command are mind-boggling but then the footballers are not complaining. Football in India, unlike cricket, continues to be a rare sport which commands gates. Cricket, for all its popularity, is watched free at the domestic level.

“Thanks to television, football has created a big following for itself in India. We have been striving to gather attention at the world level but the game as such has a huge audience in our country. Events like the World Cup, the Euro Cup, the various football leagues beamed from across the world, has helped in swelling the number of kids taking to football. The number is increasing but we need to impart proper coaching”, asserts Tarun.

Former international Anadi Barua, presently a coach, avers, “After every major international football tournament we are flooded with kids wanting to take to the game. I am happy to see the number has grown over the years; the standards too have improved gradually and the awareness abut the game has increased with more and more parents taking interest and pushing their wards to play football with seriousness.”

The playing fields in the Capital may have been dwindling but the number of registered players is growing on an encouraging note. It is now for the administrators to sustain the interest among the masses and let this beautiful game thrive.

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