AHC: Turn India into a respected football nation

Football (i.e. soccer) is hugely popular in India. It's been an important market for many Premier League clubs for years, and now also German Bundesliga clubs have discovered this market. Still, this popularity never translated into success of their own national team or a respected home-grown football league.

What can be done to change this, and have India to be maybe on the same level as the USA, South Korea or Japan: A national team that solidly qualifies for most World Cups and often manages to get to the Round of the last 16, with the best Indian footballers playing for European top clubs, and a home-grown league that is regarded as a top talent pool by the major European leagues.
 
India became a cricket playing nation because it was the upper class that led the Raj. If you get more working class Brits out over there, soccer could catch on instead.
 
As has been mentioned before, get more working class people out there, maybe have them get to somewhere respectable in the world cup. Cricket really took off in India following the 83 world cup triumph, before that, it was more a thing for the upper classes. After 83, well history speaks for itself
 
As has been mentioned before, get more working class people out there, maybe have them get to somewhere respectable in the world cup. Cricket really took off in India following the 83 world cup triumph, before that, it was more a thing for the upper classes. After 83, well history speaks for itself

India automatically qualified for the 1950 World Cup, but withdrew because they couldn't afford to travel to Brazil. If they'd taken part in the tournament, they would've been in the same group with Paraguay, Italy and Sweden, the same Sweden that ended the tournament in third place. They would've been slaughtered. :eek:
 
Basically have a bunch of Indian billionaires come together and put a league together like the Indian Premier League T20 cricket tournament. Draft in 3 or 4 top overseas players on huge contracts for the core of the team and then fill out the rest with local talent. Flog the tv rights to it and so on... Build up the professionalism and local talent that way over time...

That would be the best short/mid term strategy.
 
Basically have a bunch of Indian billionaires come together and put a league together like the Indian Premier League T20 cricket tournament. Draft in 3 or 4 top overseas players on huge contracts for the core of the team and then fill out the rest with local talent. Flog the tv rights to it and so on... Build up the professionalism and local talent that way over time...

That would be the best short/mid term strategy.

They've done it already. :p It's clearly based on the MLS: franchise system and play-offs, the teams' names are a mix of American-sounding, British-sounding, Indian-sounding and Portuguese-sounding names, and there is at least one European or South American player far past his prime in each one of them.
 
With all due respect to the Non-US/Canada world where they play real "foot" ball, I couldn't help but visualize a giant marquee with the name, "Slumdog Quarterback" flashing at me... :eek:
 
With all due respect to the Non-US/Canada world where they play real "foot" ball, I couldn't help but visualize a giant marquee with the name, "Slumdog Quarterback" flashing at me... :eek:

Football, not "foot" ball.

Now go play with your hand-egg or whatever.


And your movie idea sounds cool :D
 
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