While Cricket is a game of royalties, football is a people's game. But it remains low key in country
thanks to the popularity of Cricket
PRAFULL GORADIA
The riotous protest witnessed in Paris on the era of the FIFA World Cup Football final in Qatar showed to what heights football can arouse emotions. It is the
world's biggest sport with the maximum following and the enormity of the money it generates. In the year 2021, world football's earnings were estimated to be
$600 billion, well over twice of what all other sports put together earn. Incidentally, in the USA, football is called soccer.
Football came to India earlier than cricket, which was initially promoted and patronized by princes, who sat on the thrones of states like Jamnagar, Baroda,
Holkar, and Patiala et al. The legendary Ranji became the Maharaja of Jamnagar and the national cricket team was generally captained by the maharajas, like
those of Patiala, Porbunder, Vizianagaram and so on. In short, cricket was a princely game, little connected with the soil of India.
On the other hand, football was the common man's favourite in eastern and southern India, the north was fond of hockey while the west tried to play
cricket. The football hero of eastern India was Goshta Pal, who retired in 1936. A full-size bronze statue of this football legend stands in all its distinction
opposite the Akashvani Building near Raj Bhavan in Kolkata. Until now, there is no comparable statue of a cricketer; only recently, there have been reports of
a gigantic cricketing figure being elevated in Mumbai.
The central thrust of this submission is that some institutions in our country should consider promoting football, eventually, on a national scale. The game is
ideally suited for the common folk of India, whether in the cities, towns or villages. Football requires only about a sixth of the land area essential for cricket.
Even in a small village, boys and girls can begin kicking the ball without much preparation; there is no need for mechanized equipment like steamrollers. There
is no equipment other than the ball. Until some years ago, there was no need for the players to wear any boots. The legendary Goshta Pal donned boots only
during the monsoons. It is relevant to mention that football can be played at any time of the year. Europe considers it a winter game, whereas in India, it is
considered a summer-cum-monsoon sport. Apart from the player not needing much equipment, the team or the club too does not need to pour in large sums of
money to prepare for the kick-off.
Football consumes less than two hours for a fulfilling game whereas cricket occupies more time. Gostha Behari Pal, (August 1896 – April 1976) was an
Indian footballer who played as a defender. He was the first captain of the India national team and played during the 1920s and 1930s. Spending most of his
career in Mohun Bagan, Pal is regarded the best player ever to have played for the century-old club. “I see, you are Goshta Pal, the Chinese wall.”
—?Rabindranath Tagore, Asia's first Nobel laureate, addressed Pal after meeting him, after arrival of Mohun Bagan players in Santiniketan. Nicknamed as
“Chiner Pracheer” (The Great Wall of China), Pal was one of the best defenders of contemporary Indian football.
After his death, a statue was erected in memory of him at the Gostha Pal Sarani (named after him) in 1984, opposite to the Eden Gardens at Kolkata
Maidan area. The statue was unveiled by then PWD minister Jatin Chakraborty. In 1998, a postage stamp dedicated to Pal, was unveiled in Calcutta by the
India Post. Thus, he became the first Indian footballer to have a commemorative postage stamp in his honour. Later, within the Mohun Bagan club tent, a
museum was built in his name. Gostha Pal Championship, named after him, under the aegis of All India Football Federation's ‘Golden Baby Leagues', was
incorporated to include more children from Kolkata into the football culture.
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter who visited India in 2007, had called the country a “sleeping giant” of world football, and wanted to awaken it. The
former FIFA boss Sepp Blatter called India “another market” for the beautiful game and endorsed the then upcoming franchise-based Indian Super League
(ISL). Blatter, during his 2007 visit to India, had termed India a “sleeping giant and called for wide-scale reforms and greater professionalism”.
“Football has to keep on spreading throughout the world. We have seen success with the professional league in China, but I can inform you that we will
have a professional soccer league in India,” Blatter was quoted as saying in the magazine ‘Sports Business International'.
“This is another market for football, not a financial market but another market to grow our sport. There are 1.3 billion people in India, that's 1.3 billion
people who want to play football now,” added the head of world football's governing body. “Obviously, they like cricket and it's a good sport; let them play it, but
it's not as good as football,” Blatter went on to say.
(The writer is a well-known columnist, an author and a former member of the Rajya Sabha. The views expressed are personal.)
