That football is gaining in popularity in India can be seen by the fact that cricket is not on the top of the sports pages nor on the front pages of the print media and even the electronic media leads its sports news with Euro 2004. True, the Indian cricket team is not playing a tournament anywhere at the moment but in the past, even during the cricketing off-season, there would be some trivial cricketing item being the lead sports story inspite of other major sporting events taking place somewhere in the world. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world and even in India, which has been lukewarm to it, till ESPN-STAR sports started telecasting the English Premiership, the game has begun to get followed more than ever before.
This is a real opportunity for the officials of the Football Federation to latch on to and develop it further, but whether it will be grasped is to be seen.
Even the All-English Tennis Championship looks like being overshadowed by Euro 2004, and with the finals of both events clashing on the same day, sports-lovers will have a feast of sporting activity of the highest class on July 4.
A bit of gloss has already been taken away by the withdrawal of some top names from the tennis championship, especially in the women’s section, but it is still a major championship and the withdrawals open up the door of opportunity to some others who work the whole circuit and not just play in the majors. The French Open had two new champions and from countries that were not major tennis countries, and this again shows that with planning and proper development programs in place, champions can be produced in countries where it is not the No. 1 sport.
The Athens Olympics are just over a month away and though our medal prospects are restricted to hockey, tennis and Anju George, we must ensure that we give all the participants encouragement, as they prepare for what is unquestionably the pinnacle of sporting events. If by some chance we do not get anybody on the podium, then be prepared for a lot of noise as to why a country of more than a billion people cannot produce an Olympic medal winner. Those making the most noise will be the people most likely responsible for India not producing champions. In any case, hardly ten percent of the billion-plus population participates in sports, and so to moan that a billion-plus populace cannot produce champs is really not correct.
Unless sport becomes a career option like cricket is in India or soccer in England and Europe, we will continue to produce the odd champion but not regular winners who will take the standard of the sport they participate in to newer, higher competitive levels.
It would be interesting to see if Zimbabwe participates in the Olympics and what sort of a contingent they send to Athens.
At least their cricketing problems have been sorted out for the time being with the Zimbabwe team not participating in Tests for the next six months. There are some who feel that even the one-dayers should not be played by Zimbabwe, looking at their defeats with a team without the regular players.
But a close, dispassionate look will show that even with the regular players, the Zimbabwe team was getting beaten and quite badly too in both the Tests as well as the one-dayers. Be that as it may, the decision has been taken and now it’s up to the international cricketing community to help Zimbabwe cricket to get back on its feet again.
The meeting in Dubai saw the problem over the itinerary of South Africa’s tour of India being solved in three minutes flat when the two board presidents met. It shows that meeting face-to-face solves problems a lot quicker than through the media.
What was amusing was the reports coming from South Africa that India was indifferent to the South African tour simply because they were concentrating on Australia, who are to visit India before the Proteas.
The sound and fury from some South African mediamen that since Australia are the No. 1 team and India fancies itself as the No. 2 team, the South Africans were being given the cold shoulder was a laughable theory.
Have the South Africans forgotten that in 2001, when India and Australia were to tour South Africa, it was the Australians who were given the major Test venues like Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town while India was pushed to the districts? So, before the South Africans start pointing fingers, they should not forget that there would be three fingers pointing back at them.
India lost both the Tests it played against South Africa at home in 2000, and this trip offers them the chance to avenge that defeat. The series against Australia that precedes the South African Tests will no doubt give the Indians good preparation, and if they beat Australia then their confidence level will be high indeed to take on the Proteas. After the fabulous 2003-04 season, India will be looking forward to making greater progress and be a winning side in 2004-05.
But before the Tests, there are four limited-overs tourneys - the Asia Cup, the Holland Tri-series with Australia and Pakistan, the three-match series against England and the ICC Champions Trophy in England in September.
So, the next few months are full of sporting activity to satisfy the appetites of the most avid of sports-lovers. No matter which team he/she is supporting, there should be lots of action to keep him/her glued to the TV sets.
The parents will be saying a silent prayer of thanks that it is not exam-time to distract the youngsters from their studies and homework. For the kids, it’s a time to see more heroes and new superstars in the making and who knows, a new sport to follow.
