The promise of tomorrow hangs in the air for Indian Women's Football

Remember Mr. Robutusen, the eccentric neighbour in the cult-classic The Princess Diaries? The man who'd burst into soliloquy, describing everything he was seeing, as if he was writing a script? He'd said a phrase, which I still remember to this day. "...the promise of tomorrow hung in the air," the sentence went.

This phrase rings very true when one looks at the treatment meted out to women's football in India. The 2023 season of the Indian Women's League (IWL), the country's top and only division for women's football, is well under way. Unfortunately, the issues surrounding the competition is garnering more attention than the football itself.

On 14th April, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) made a landmark announcement which would see footballers plying their trade in the IWL earn a minimum of Rs. 3.2 lakh annually on a contract basis. In the same breath, AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey admitted how the running of women's football has always been a "formality" in India.

"Till now it was just a formality to be very honest. Usually, teams come to one city and the league ends in 15-20 days. Nothing happens before and after that league. This is not the way to develop any sport," he had told The Bridge.

However, nothing's changed. Granted that the apex body is taking initiative, making strides in order to better the sport in the country, but it does make me wonder whether their actions become too little too late. Despite Chaubey's straightforward deduction of the state of women's football, this year's IWL is happening in one state with close to no build-up for the competition. 

The AIFF had come out with their extensive 'Vision 2047' back in January, almost five months back, giving them ample time to plan out the format and structure of the league. Even if that couldn't have happened for whatever reason, the federation shouldn't have waited till the last moment to look for an official broadcaster for the league.

The IWL 2023 season kicked off on the 26th of April. The notice to welcome bids for the broadcasting was published on 21st April, just five days before the season's commencement. The bidding was closed on 24th April, with two potential broadcasters in the running, namely KPS Studios and Moving Media. Ultimately, AIFF announced, just a day before the league's start, that the Indian Football's YouTube channel would be live streaming the matches.

What came as a bigger shock was that only the evening matches, scheduled for kickoff at 4:30 pm, would get the privilege of being streamed. This meant that 28 of the 56 group stage matches would not be there for the fans to watch.

"Time constraints" was the reason cited by the AIFF president for keeping matches at 8:00 am in the morning, as per a Times of India exclusive. In the same report, he admits that the option of streaming all the matches was available, but in the end, the top brass decided to go for quality than a holistic coverage.

Lack of proper marketing of league

With the 2022 Durand Cup we saw how competitions, if properly marketed and planned, can garner the interests of even the most casual football fans in India. Dedicated buildup towards the season, a proper broadcaster ready to go, and a solid social media presence, all have been lacking so far with regard to the IWL this year.

The only build up the tournament got was a 52 second promotional video which was posted by Indian Football's official twitter handle less than 17 hours before the season's first kickoff.

After an initial outburst, the fans will eventually calm down, but they would expect, at the least, live updates from the match. This too wasn't given to the supporters. The fans of the teams playing in the morning have to wait for a full time card to be posted at the end of the match.

Videos of sportspersons from other disciplines, and people associated with the same, including the likes of swimmer Maana Patel, cricketer, Jaydev Unadkat, and Jaydev Shah (President of the Saurashtra Cricket Association), speaking words of encouragement for the IWL teams and players have found space on Indian Football's twitter page. Surely updates for the morning matches can't be too much to ask for?

It has become commonplace for the federation, notwithstanding the people at the helm, to take Indian Football one step forward, and two steps back at the same time. The handling with the IWL has once again shed light on this fact and how much apathy is shown towards the country's women footballers, even if it is unknowingly.