Association football, more commonly known as football is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries of the world and out of those 250 million, more than 10 million players are Indians. Yea, even I’m surprised to know that we have that number of players and not 11 of them can compete at international standards. Every Indian knows how inefficient and corrupt most systems in India are and AIFF (All India Football Federation) is no different which is further jolted by lack of support by Sports Ministry.

Let’s start again at a pleasant note. Football is the second most popular game in India and things are getting a lot better. With the “Under 17 FIFA World Cup” being hosted by India in 2017, there was no better time to start an initiative as good as Hero Indian Super League to promote the sport among people and the upcoming players. The league contains 8 teams bidden out as franchise under names of popular football hubs in India. Strict rules apply to player rosters, with each team required to have one marquee player, seven foreigners and 14 Indians, 4 of whom must be from the city in which the franchise is based.

Mendy scores a beauty in ISL

Including international players along with large capital from franchise owners has really made the league spell bounding. I never believed in this initiative and skipped the opening ceremony along with few matches till I accidently ended up seeing a match while surfing channels and I just sat still, mesmerized by the beauty of the game. Well, the situation is that I am going to watch the next match live in Delhi.

One can never predict the future but the future of Indian football does seem bright now and if you aren’t following ISL, give it a try and you won’t disappoint yourself.