The Hindu Business Line : Lessons for cricket from football clubs?

Meet Mr Boria Majumdar, research fellow at Latrobe University in Melbourne, and one of the foremost social historians of sports in India. In an article written a day before the BCCI-ICL tussle became full-blown, he had wondered if there was a way out where the rebel and official cricket authorities can bury the hatchet and let both co-exist peacefully. He had drawn as precedent the way the Australian Cricket Board and Kerry Packer patched up a standoff that shook the crick eting world in the late 1970s.

“Australian authorities took back the banned players who had joined Packer’s rebel league, and Packer’s television channel won Australian cricket telecast rights. Both steps revitalised and revolutionised the game and the way it was broadcast,” reads a snatch from Mr Majumdar’s article on BBC. “A similar solution looks possible if the obdurate Indian Board recognises the rebel league and treats it as an improved version of India’s domestic competition. Revenues from ticket sales could also be shared between the two. But if the face-off hardens, Indian cricket will become the greatest casualty.”

Mr Majumdar is Executive Editor of the Routledge journals Sport in Society and Soccer and Society and General Editor of the Routledge Series, Sport in the Global Society. He is the author of the acclaimed Twenty-Two Yards to Freedom: A Social History of Indian Cricket, and Indian cricket – An illustrated history. He also wrote (along with Kaushik Bandopadhyay) Goalless — The Story of a unique footballing nation, probably the first book of its kind in India. He is also visiting lecturer at the University of Chicago and a fellow of the International Olympic Museum at Lausanne, Switzerland. A well-known media figure, he has done television programmes and written extensively for newspapers and magazines.

He is currently finishing a monograph on the social history of India’s Olympic encounter. Business Line recently had a chance to interact with him.

Excerpts from an email interview:

Are there lessons that cricket can learn from football clubs?

They can actually. Compare it with the EPL for example — it is a different form of ICL really. A professional league where international and domestic stars play together. Someone can say but the British FA controls it — true, but does the presence and co-existence of international and domestic stars contribute to increased popularity, gate money and standard. It does. Same could have happened here with ICL.

Mahindra United reaches quarterfinals of AFC championship. Is this a sign of better things to come?

Sorry to sound pessimistic but one offs won’t solve anything. This is like India beating the UAE in the pre-world cup qualifier a couple of years earlier.

We need a consistent showing at the international level and that is only possible in a professionalised set up. During Sepp Blatter’s recent visit, the FIFA chief was shocked to see the archaic kind of infrastructure we have. On the other hand what is indeed a positive sign is that India is foremost in FIFA’s mind. Blatter, while speaking to me in Zurich, clearly outlined that India ranks very high in FIFA’s priority. It is considered a sleeping giant and FIFA will do its best to awaken it. If we at home do our best to complement these efforts, things might indeed turn round.

You say that satellite TV showing world football in Indian drawing rooms has brought down interest in Indian football. How do we get out of this conundrum? Shouldn’t the viewing of quality play inspire domestic performance?

Conundrum is the right word perhaps. Let us face it — there is no escaping the force of globalisation. It is upon us to cope and use this juggernaut to our advantage. I am of the firm opinion that we should follow the model of the J league. Where was Japan a couple of decades earlier? J league transformed everything. And our national league started with a bang and is continuing with a whimper.

We can only tame globalisation if we adapt it to suit our needs. And replicating the J league with an Indian flavour is perhaps a way forward. Japan treated football as “industry” and invested in it. Perhaps, it is time to do the same in India. Have it as part of our planning strategy, Five-Year Plans — because it does bring in huge revenue. So treat it as investment.

How does corporate sponsorship of football help in fostering fan club culture as seen in England, Italy and other parts of Europe? Kolkata and to some extent Goa have such a culture. How can this spread across the nation?

Very simple. Corporates are jumping on to the fan culture bandwagon in the West. For example, Qantas Airways has forced the naming of the Australian Rugby team after them and is doing its best to promote this branding. In a recent match against the All blacks in Melbourne the company leased out stalls across the city a week in advance to sell merchandise and promote its brand. Telstra has gotten the stadium named the Telstra Dome. In Canada, the Sky Dome is now the Rogers Centre.

Here too, the corporates can sponsor the arenas, thus promoting their branding. In turn the clubs can utilise this money to improve the standard. If you were to visit the Arsenal tube station soon after they won the EPL a couple of seasons ago you would see the whole tube station painted with winning photos — similar things can be done in Kolkata with the Kolkata giants.

Your views on facilities and coaching for football in India. Do we need more Tata Football Academies throughout the country?

Why only Tata football academics. I’d say more academies launched by the AIFF in collaboration with business houses. Only private initiatives won’t do but they are indeed welcome. Goan football continues to thrive on private (almost feudal) support for example.

Does Indian football need more creative advertising to sell the domestic league to more viewers?

Indeed. It is the TV company which sponsors it that has now brought some creative advertising into it. The dance troupe for example. The AIFF/IFA and others can do a lot of creative branding. For example, fan clubs, fan embassies like the ones set up during World Cups can become norms. Travel companies should be contracted to transport fans across the country to see national league games like in the West. Many such measures can be taken.

UB took to sponsoring the big three clubs in Kolkata. Would this be detrimental to the quality of the games involving these clubs on both the sides?

I am of the opinion that we need different companies sponsoring different clubs. For example, the UB strategy that the big three can’t poach players is against the professional ethic of transfers. This won’t happen with different companies at the helm.

On the professionalisation of football administration in the country.

Oh! This will take pages. At least the AIFF now has a paid secretary. Mr P. R. Das Munshi at the top indeed has some merits — as a powerful Minister can get work done easily. But we need a professional set up with professionals and not amateurs who are all honorary. Also, with Mr Das Munshi having his hands full as Minister and politician, it is always a question whether he can do justice.

In fact, politicians at the helm of sports bodies is always a matter of debate. But at the local level, for little money, we can have far more professional set ups. We should have TRO’s (Talent Research Officers), specially appointed men in the North East (where football can easily become life) for very little money.

The grassroots are the essence for a healthy national side — clubs should have far stronger nursery teams and their talent scouts can do a far better job. Former players, often in penury, can thus find employment as well.

D. MURALI

B. BASKAR

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