A coalition of young sports lovers on a crusade to reform Indian sports
In a breakthrough step for Indian football, Star Sports decided to air the FIFA qualifiers featuring Team India.
This win was made possible by the efforts of a newly formed pressure group called Indians for Sports Reform (ISR)- a coalition of young, public-spirited sports lovers.
Back in March 2015 when India was playing Nepal in Guwahati, the match was telecast live only on DD North East, while a deferred live replay was shown on DD Sports three hours after the completion of the match. What was even worse was that the second leg against Nepal being played away from home in Kathmandu was not broadcasted at all.
Knowing that this trend would continue with the future matches, Rishabh Surolia, President of ISR, visited the Doordarshan Bhawan to convince the authorities to broadcast these matches live for the Indian audiences.
After repeated negotiations with DD, AIFF and private channels, ISR successfully managed to secure the telecast of India’s upcoming matches in FIFA qualifiers.
The Inception of ISR
Talking about the birth ISR, Rishabh, 19 says, “To initiate anything, you honestly don’t need too many things. Just a little bit of enthusiasm, access to the internet, and those handy RTI’s are enough to start making a difference. That is exactly how Indians for Sports Reform (ISR) started out.
Our members are extremely passionate about two things: our nation, and sports. Naturally, it seemed fit that the two met at some cross-roads, so it was no surprise to us when we found large swathes of people who not only were passionate about sports and India, but also about Indian sports.”
The founders of ISR, Rishabh and Rohin are unapologetic fans of football, and especially Chelsea FC. “We’re from a generation that grew up watching the Premier League regularly on weekends, and Chelsea, United or Liverpool jerseys (most of them Palika Bazaar rip offs, a few branded ones) could often be spotted on the streets, something which is extremely plausible given that most of the promotions on Star Sports are either about Indian cricket or English football.
He recognises the perils of being a football fan in India- the ungodly timings of the matches and the accusations made by jingoists. “In the FIFA World Cups, we are forced to support other countries because India never qualifies. It really irks us.”
Pushing for Transparency in Indian Sports
The primary dissatisfaction out of which ISR was borne out of was the “AIFF Master Rights Agreement” which the AIFF signed with IMG-Reliance Ltd. in 2010 for Rs. 700 crores. ISR felt that this agreement was signed in a manner that wasn’t transparent, and therefore not befitting of a government organisation.
This issue was taken up by Rishabh in his very first RTI, before ISR was even born.
“While it is true that we’re currently paying a lot of attention to football, it would be incorrect to state that it is the only thing we are fighting for. ISR’s structure is such that it is full of people passionate about sports in general but a lot of other things like basketball, Olympics, sports infrastructure, hockey and various other things in specific. Our members are actively pursuing issues they are passionate about and in the months to come, ISR will have a plethora of information to report on.”
The Vision Ahead
It can be said, however, that the AIFF have been the more forthcoming and cooperative than any other National Sports Federation in this aspect, diligently replying to the RTIs we filed and trying to engage in dialogue.
"ISR wants to promote all Indian sports, increase transparency and accountability in all the sports organisations in the country. That’s why the name is Indians for Sports reform, because we didn’t want to restrict ourselves to just one sport and alienate those who didn’t necessarily want to do anything about the state of football but wanted to increase transparency in hockey or boxing, for example.
We’re definitely looking for more members and anyone who wants to sign up is welcome. All they have to do is like the Facebook page and send a message to our page, and we will get in touch with them as soon as possible.
At the end of the day, it’s very simple. We’re a country of 1.2 billion people. It’s shocking that we’re not at the top of the sports world and that we do so miserably in the Olympics when compared to countries like China, USA, Australia etc. We honestly believe that with increased transparency and accountability, we will eventually reach the top. And our aim is to provide that transparency"
India's chances in the qualifiers
"To have any realistic chance of qualification to the FIFA World Cup, the Blue Tigers need to beat all three opponents in-and-around India's ranking at home, and get a positive result - a win or a draw - in the home game against Iran. However, the home form could account for nothing if a similar performance is not replicated abroad, so Constantine would need to work hard to ensure that the Blue Tigers do not get complacent and manage to defeat the lesser-ranked Turkmenistan and Guam.
A positive result in Muscat against Oman would also go a long way in securing qualification to the FIFA World Cup, but arguably the toughest fixture India is involved in this time around is the one against Iran in Tehran."