Have Calcuttans lost their interest in football?

Is there no passion for the beautiful game?

For the Calcuttans, football is their sera khela (favourite sport). But it isn’t true anymore. Just like losing their sheer joy of procuring a shrimp from a macher bazar (fish market), football too has ceased to be a passionate game for the Bengalis. On Sunday, I saw a photograph where East Bengal’s Nigerian striker Chidi Edeh in action against Kalighat Milan Sangha in a Calcutta League match.

East Bengal convincingly won the match but it had few takers.

An all-too-familiar sight for Indian football

The empty stands in that photograph forced us to rethink if football at all sells these days in Calcutta. It reflected the dwindling interest of the Bengalis, who once upon a time braved the scorching heat and blinding rains to be present at the Maidan. Are the local Bengali population interested to watch their favourite clubs in the local League which has lost its lustre years ago?

There would be still come die-hard fans in the city. But the majority of them hit the stadium only when there is a Mohun Bagan-East Bengal match. Other small clubs like Aryans, George Telegraph, Kumartuli and Port Trust are there. But they only just exist.

Gone are the days when offices would empty before a Bagan-East Bengal match. But now a Bosedas, Ghosedas, pisis (paternal aunt) and kakus (uncle) don’t huddle anymore over transistors with a somewhat tense face.

Come to think of it, the fabric of the society has changed in the last 15 years or so.

As for the young generation, the jhaal muris (spiced puffed rice) and puchkas (pani puri or gol gappa) have been taken over by McDonalds burger and Pizza; CCD (Cafe Coffee Day) is now more popular than having tea in kullar (earthen cups) from the roadside chaiwalas. Likewise, a youngster will be more interested to know why Manchester United lost in their opening game in EPL rather than discuss Edeh’s goal against Kalighat.

I strongly feel that the local football administrators in the city are still stuck in a time warp. Even the clubs also cared less about the game’s growth as a result of which large section of the fans has stopped going to the Maidan.

In such a mess, IPL’s introduction was a big blow to football’s dominance.

Though T20 and KKR’s immense popularity have turned the Bengalis to the Eden Gardens, it would be silly to shift the blame on cricket for football’s downslide.

Commercialization of cricket happened in 1987 when Jagmohan Dalmiya successfully turned the game into a business hub and the city hosted the World Cup final. Following in Dalmiya’s footsteps and backed by its jazzy marketing strategies, cricket administrators introduced IPL which is market oriented and a paisa vasool stuff.

Not surprising then to see the Bengali media willing to give more priority to cricket coverage. They media industry too have realised that what sells is important. So, barring a Bagan-East Bengal game, the regional dailies push all football news into some remote corner of the second or third page.

Known for their innovations and creative thoughts, the Bengalis must come up with a slick and market-driven strategy, if their sera khela is to survive in a city hailed as the Mecca of Indian football.

I think, passion has no place in a result-oriented society.