ISL 2017: 5 things that must improve for the league to succeed in the long run

The Hero Indian Super League has completely changed the landscape of football in India. The league was launched with an intention of bringing professionalism into the horizon of Indian football and to spread the beautiful game to every part of the country.

Football has always been popular in some parts of India but the level at which the game has been played in the country has always been a point of concern. The clouds of uncertainty and inconsistency have always wandered over the game's future in the country.

While the ISL is a big positive step forward, there are still some potholes that remain in the newly constructed roadmap for football to flourish in India. Let us have a look at five things that should improve if the league has to succeed in the country and if Indian football has to match world-class standards:

#5 The Nature of Pitches

Enter captio — The Fatorda Stadium has one of the slowest pitches in the country

One of the things that determine the speed and tempo of a football game is the pitch and the quality of grass on the surface. The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa, popularly known as the Fatorda stadium has been a home to some epic encounters in the past. But the pace at which those games were played was quite slow.

Not just Fatorda, this is the 'ground reality' of most of the stadiums in the country. The pitches in these ground are not favouable for a fast-paced game as the field affects the quality of passes.

The speed at which football is played in India is nowhere near to the speed of games in some of the bigger leagues in the world. To enhance the speed, it is essential to improve the playing conditions.

#2 The quality of referees

Decision making has been average in the ISL

Some of the decisions that have been made in ISL games, throughout the past three seasons have been howlers. With all due respect to the officials in ISL, we usually witness one or two bad decisions in almost every game.

The story in ISL 2017 has been no different so far. A match between Mumbai City FC and FC Goa saw an offside being given against Goa while the replays showed that the player was clearly onside. These kinds of small decisions often play a big role in football and sometimes, these become the difference between victory and defeat.

ISL has come under a lot of criticism in the past over the quality of referees involved. Zico, the former Brazilian manager of FC Goa, was particularly critical about the quality of officiating in matches during his tenure in India and he publicly voiced his opinion on multiple occasions.

This is no rocket science that a game of football can be improved if correct decisions are made and technology is used appropriately.

#3 The Scheduling

Ent — ISL schedules have been cruel in the past

One of the main reasons behind star foreign players rejecting a move to the Indian Super League is the cruel and grinding match and travel schedule. In the past three seasons, the matches were played on a daily basis for almost the entire duration of the season, inclusive of the hectic travel schedule.

This season, however, brought some respite for the players as the duration of the season extended. But still, for the long run, the league should give enough time to the players as well the administrators to regroup. A gruelling travel schedule also plays a big role.

The ultimate solution is to have a full-fledged league in which the games are played mostly on the weekends so that the players have enough time to adjust between successive fixtures.

#4 The Infrastructure

Enter — The Infrastructure for football needs to improve in the country

For football to flourish in the country, world-class training facilities and practice pitches are a necessity. Sadly, there are not too many clubs around the country that boast of these attributes.

Infrastructure is way below par all around the country and it reflects on the players coming through the ranks. They lack in technical as well as physical ability as they do not get proper training facilities.

One major prerequisite for a successful league is high quality infrasructure. In the perfect world, a football club has its own stadium and its own training grounds which is far from the situation in India. In fact, multiple clubs are forced to share a stadium in some parts.

While this might take some time, the clubs can work towards building proper training facilities and providing equipments, right from the grassroot level to nurture players from a very young age .

#5 Support

It is often said that the crowd support acts as the 12th man for any team and rightly so. The passion and enthusiasm of the fans drive the players to perform to the best of their abilities. If football has to compete with cricket in India, the game has to reach in every corner of the country.

Clubs like Bengaluru FC and Kerela Blasters FC are blessed with supporters who are always willing to improve and who are ready to go an extra mile to support their team. In contrast, you hardly find a handful of supporters in stands when Delhi Dynamos FC play at home.

The fans need to appreciate the efforts being put in by the players and the organizers for developing a footballing culture in the country. They need to come out and support their teams and be a driving force for this change to come into existence.