Two mistakes of ISL

The Indian Super League (ISL) started its journey last year with a hope of change. ISL introduced the concept of ‘footballtainment’, which is basically a cocktail between football and glamour.  The opportunity to see the football legends playing in India and the involvement of the icons of the entertainment industry created hype among the fans. The corporate sector came forward to support this league financially. Undoubtedly, it promised on-ground excitement combined with off-ground success, which is not common in Indian football. The attendance figures of the inaugural edition of ISL support this logic. It was the beginning of a new direction of Indian football.  However, according to the newspaper reports, ISL has failed to create the same buzz in the second edition of the league.  Is it because of the average quality of the games or there are some other reasons for not sustaining the same craze? Let us suggest two fundamental steps which may help ISL to retain their popularity. 

  

In sports economics, we often say that the ‘athletic prowess’ is a scarce resource in sports which attracts fans towards the stadium.  It is, therefore, important to recruit players who can demonstrate their on-field talent. Recruiting a retired, unfit or out of form player may create short term results, but may not be helpful in yielding long term outcomes. The model of ISL largely depends on the recruitment of good quality marquee players, assuming that the quality of Indian players cannot be improved overnight. But, it seems that a number of players, signed by various franchisees, are either unfit or out of form. Hélder Postiga, who is signed as the marquee player of Atletico de Kolkata, received injury during the first match and there is no concrete answer of his returning to the team. Roberto Carlos is a legend of world football and he may be appointed as the marquee manager of any team. However, it is difficult to accept him as a marquee player as, at present, he is just only a shadow of his playing days.  Same is true for Nicolas Anelka of Mumbai City FC and Simao Sabrosa of North East United. The marquee players and a number of other foreigners have failed to make significant difference this time. Unfortunately, ISL is becoming another Indian tournament with a few big stars. In sports, there is a correlation between on-field and off-field successes. If quality cannot be delivered in terms of performance, financial success is difficult to attain or maintain, even after recruiting some big names of the past. Thus, the first suggestion is to be careful while selecting the marquee and foreign players who can add value to the franchisees as well as to the league.

The poor quality of football pitches in India is a reason for a number of injuries happening in ISL. For holding a tournament of this scale, it is essential to improve the quality of pitches and the organizers and franchisees cannot ignore their responsibilities. There are some other areas which require year long activities. For example, fan developmental initiatives should be taken by all the franchisees to engage fans more with ISL. This is a mandatory criterion for the I-League clubs to fulfil. However, it appears that the ISL franchisees are focusing only on the three months of the league and they have nothing to deliver for the rest of the year. Therefore, the second suggestion is to focus on other areas, such as the infrastructure development, fan engagement, grassroots developmental activities, which will surely help them in delivering quality performance, maintaining the interest of the fans and developing talents. 

ISL has the potential to make a change in the way football is produced and consumed in India. Only a few good steps may help them to retain their popularity in long term. We expect more activities from ISL which will surely make this league bigger and better. There is a scope of improvement and the stakeholders of ISL must work on that.