New Delhi: On Friday, after the Indian women’s football team had completed their 8-1 hammering of Sri Lanka, in the South Asian Games in Dhaka, national coach Shahid Jabbar hailed the victory as a new dawn for his players.
“For a long time, my girls have had to live with the lack of necessary exposure,” Jabbar said. “Considering this was their first international match in 28 months, I have to say that they did really well.
The coach was not too far from the truth. The last time the Indian girls played an international match was in October 2007 when they lost 1-4 to Iran in the Asia Cup qualifier in Gurgaon. In between, neither the national team nor the juniors had been fielded by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) in any international meet.
The situation improved only after an unhappy Fifa struck India off the world rankings list, on June 26 last year, for not playing an international tie for more than 18 months. It provoked angry reactions in the football establishment, forcing a highly embarrassed AIFF to launch a revival programme.
“Things have improved hugely since then,” pointed out an AIFF official.
“The national camp for the South Asian Games in Goa was nearly two months long. Also, top American coach Mike Dickey was brought in for a two-week coaching programme for upcoming trainers.”
Yet, many feel that little has been done for women’s football in the country. Of the total AIFF budget of Rs 30 crore, less than five per cent is spent on women’s football. It includes 10 per cent of the annual Fifa grant ($250,000) which the governing body has earmarked as mandatory for the promotion of women’s football.
“A lot could have been done for women’s football,” admits AIFF deputy general secretary Gautam Kar.
“The competition is, after all, lesser at the world level in women’s football. India were ranked 50th in the world and 11th in Asia when Fifa de-listed the team. With little effort we could have gone far ahead.”
Participation in the South Asian Games has come as a big boost for Indian women’s football that has less than 5,000 registered players and not more than 50 women coaches. “Our dream is to play in the World Cup one day,” national captain . Bembem Devi said. “This Dhaka games is only a small step towards achieving our goal.”
The majority of the players in the Indian team come from Manipur, a state that has won the national championships a record 24 times.
India’s next match on Sunday, against Pakistan, is going to be an historic occasion. Led by the skilful midfielder Ishrat Fatima, of Punjab University’s sports science department, Pakistan are making their first-ever appearance in women’s football in the South Asian Games.
