MUMBAI: After nearly five years of existence, Indian Super League (ISL) club Kerala Blasters’ main focus continues to be on investing in brand building and upgrading infrastructure, iQuest Enterprises CEO Nitin Kukreja declared at the Star Sports India Football Forum 2018 on 30 November, which was curated and organised by SportzPower.
iQuest is leads consortium of investors owning the Blasters franchise.
Speaking on the topic of ‘Building a Viable Football Ecosystem in India’, Kukreja highlighted the importance of teams enhancing the ISL’s identity and not the other way round if football has to be taken up professionally by the Indian youth. He pointed out that despite the ISL’s existence in 2014, the sports suffers from a lack of appeal in regions besides Kerala, Goa, NorthEast and West Bengal.
In an insightful address, Kukreja declared that Indian football needs a collective investment of Rs 20 billion over the next 7-8 years for it to achive its stated goals.
While each of the ten ISL franchises must contribute Rs 250 million annually during the period, the IQuest CEO cautioned that the growth story would remain incomplete without other stakeholders stepping up and having an ‘investment’ mindset rather than a ‘returns’ one.
Firstly, he called for Central and state government authorities to lead the way in incentivising grassroots development programmes for the youth and upgrading the infrastructure of ‘proper’ football stadiums across the nation. Kukreja gave the example of the Blasters having to play their home games in Kochi on a makeshift cricket ground where normal and corporate fans have had mixed viewing experiences. Due to the infrastructure, he argued that each franchise faces major cost and P&L pressures in developing world-class facilities, which affects its fan engagement opportunities at the venue.
Secondly, he opined that the All India Football Federation (AIFF) must step up to join hands with the likes of top European leagues such as the LaLiga, Premier League and the Bundesliga to fund and support overseas training programmes for children above the age of 10. From an early age, a high level of international exposure would make them competitive and help identify a large talent pool easily, which can enhance the performances of the Indian national team.
The Blasters itself are aiming to develop young players who can represent India in first-division teams in any of the big leagues of the world. Kukreja was certain that the AIFF also has a crucial role to play in curating leagues, competitions and programs for children below the age of 10 domestically, while he acknowledged the governing body’s efforts so far.
The CEO also pointed out that Indian football is a numbers game. If more youngsters have to be trained for the highest level of the game in all parts of the country, it needs to be prepared for having a pool of 5,000 international coaches who will be well-paid and extremely well-qualified.
Lastly, Kukreja threw light on the importance of ISL clubs attracting more private investors which will automatically up the media rights value of the competition that is co-owned by Star India and Reliance. He expressed optimism at clubs and the tournament in general creating more revenue bases for the future, which will make the game less vulnerable to external pressures and challenges.
Facts backed up his opinion as football in the country has seen virtually a 12-fold increase in finances raised from sponsorship, which stands at Rs 3.5 billion in 2018 vis-Ã -vis Rs 300 million in 2012.
Interestingly, it takes into account other international leagues and competitions but not the FIFA World Cup earlier this year. These figures can be attributed to nearly a 5-fold rise in television audiences during the same period from 30 million six years ago to 160 million at present.
