Live India, Love Football

This past week was full of a few extraordinary firsts for me, ones that I will cherish for the rest of my life.... First #1 – Attended my First FC Goa Match My dear friend, Sukhvinder Singh, has been CEO of the Indian Super League club, FC Goa, for a little over a year now which is about the same amount of time I’ve been telling him that I would visit Goa to attend a match.   So as I watched the 3 rd ISL season breeze by, I finally decided to book a flight for my wife and I to attend FC Goa’s 1 st December fixture against Chennaiyin FC, a re-match of last year’s championship game.   We arrived into Goa just a few hours before the game and went straight to the team hotel located in the South not too far away from the stadium.   I must have travelled to Goa 20 times over the past few years however there isn’t a time when I arrive when I don’t comment about how different the vibe is compared to the rest of India.   Even at the team hotel, there was this ...

The Indian football calendar is flawed right now.   The way it is set up is that I-League teams begin congregating in July for pre-season but don’t actually start playing league matches until sometime in January thanks to the 3 month Indian Super League tournament that goes on from October to December. So what this essentially means is that the I-League pre-season is long and with a limited number of local competitions, it’s easy for the technical and administrative staff of any football organisation to start getting antsy. All of us who are truly passionate about this sport experience its emotional roller coaster on a weekly, and sometimes, even daily basis and, while it’s not always enjoyable, the beautiful game offers an extraordinary release of pent up energy that one can always appreciate in hindsight.   Ask any footballer or passionate club supporter and most will say that they have probably suffered more than experienced ecstasy while playing for or supporting the...

I took a quick trip to Guwahati, Assam earlier in the week to meet with NorthEast United FC management and to see some of our DSK Shivajians FC players playing in the Indian Super League live.   Although I was only in Guwahati for less than 24 hours, it was a productive and enjoyable experience. The first thing I noticed when I approached Indira Gandhi Stadium to catch the 7:00pm NEUFC vs Pune City FC kick off was that there were thousands of people tailgating in the parking lot all around the venue – drinking, eating BBQed meats, listening to rock & roll music, etc… Tailgating before sports events is one of my favorite activities while in the US and it was disappointing to realize that it’s not really part of the Indian sporting culture. Guwahati completely impressed me as the NorthEast United supporters clearly knew what they were doing when it comes to preparing themselves before cheering for their beloved club. The match itself was mediocre.   NorthEast Unite...

Those that either know me, have met me or read this blog would be aware of the fact that I like to talk. Well, it’s more that I like to share.   Whether it’s a dream, a funny story, an experience…I enjoy communicating it to others.   So it’s no surprise that one of my comfort zones is being on stage as a keynote or part of a panel sharing something important to a roomful of people who are partially forced to listen to me. This was the case at last week’s Indian Football Forum.   I’ve attended and spoken at this annual conference many times over the past few years as it offers me an opportunity to connect with friends in the industry and share updates on what’s going on in my world.   Plus, the organiser, Thomas Abraham, is a good friend and someone who I’ll always appreciate for giving me the opportunity to be a keynote speaker at the 2010 Indian Football Forum which essentially was the day some of the key stakeholders of the Indian football industry figured ou...

The other day I took the short, but scenic drive to Mumbai to attend a part of the FIFPro Asia Board Meeting.  FIFPro is a worldwide organisation established to represent the professional football community.  The India based member association connected to FIFPro, FPAI, invited me to speak with the Board members about my experiences as a part of the I-League and about what kind of support we would require from FIFPro. It was an educational forum where I was able to learn more about the type of work FIFPro does and hear about their commitment to supporting professional footballers in India. I shared some of my challenges as it relates the player side of running an I-League club especially some pain points experienced given the fact that there are two leagues in India (I-League and ISL) and no standard player contract utilised in the industry. The formal meeting was followed by a tasty lunch buffet and more conversation.  Overall, I'm glad that I ended up spending the af...

For my entire professional career, I’ve always been on the neutral side of football. Because of this, I’ve never been emotionally attached to any club in any of the countries where I’ve worked.   While at Major League Soccer in the US, I worked with the League Office so when the season was going on I was more concerned with how many people were in attendance at the matches and how entertaining the match was versus who actually won.   I know it sounds soft and superficial but it was professionally and personally challenging to get too emotionally involved with one particular club when all the clubs mattered to me. Similarly in India at Dentsu and Libero Sports, I just wanted the clubs to do well and play quality football so the industry could grow.   At the end of the day, it really didn’t matter to me who actually won the I-League or ISL season. Of course I wanted the players we represented to do well and, at times, if one of my friends was in management at a partic...

On Saturday evening, I attended an India vs. Puerto Rico FIFA friendly match at Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai.  More than the result, I was interested in 3 firsts which were associated with this match: First #1 – this was the first India home match hosted in Mumbai in 61 years First #2 – this was the first time a CONCACAF team travelled to India to play a match First #3 – this was the first India match that I have attended where the entire stadium was full of energy, cheering for the Blue Tigers India ended up winning the match 4-1 which will certainly help the morale of the entire Federation as well as the country’s FIFA ranking. These types of experiences give me great hope that with the right infrastructure, domestic talent and league structuring in place, football in this country will quickly rise to new heights. Bollywood star Abhishek Bachan attended the match