Why Football is not famous in India?

Historical Reasons

1. Colonial Legacy: India was a British colony for 100 years, and cricket was introduced by the British in the 18th century. and soon britishers introduced Cricket in india and it became a symbol of Indian resistance against British rule. cricket gain a lot popularity and it became cultural significance.There are also movies like “lagan” that also shows cricket connection with india is very old and we naturally liked cricket.
2. Lack of International Success: India’s national football team has not achieved much success in international level, it is failing to qualify for the FIFA World Cup since 1950 and still there is no hope. This lack of success has played and important role and because of that too, there is lack of interest and investment in the sport.
3. Partition and Migration: The partition of India in 1947 led to a significant migration of football-loving communities to Pakistan, further downgrading football popularity in India.

Cultural and Social Factors

1. Cricket’s Dominance: In cricket India started winning worldcup very early like in 1983 india won there first worldcup, so it naturally get attention of so many indians, and it became very popular. currently Its not just a sports in india but an emotion. it also get a massive following and media coverage, as fans wants to get every single update. Football has struggled to compete with cricket cultural and it never get this much attention like cricket gets.
2. Limited Infrastructure: India didnt have developed modern football stadiums like the other develop nations have and the training facilities are also not that good enough, making it difficult to host international matches and it somehow not promoting young player to choose football rather that they are going with cricket.
3. Socio-Economic Factors: Football is mostly played in big cities and need so many accessary like football shoes and more which require good investment for every one instead of this people do play cricket as it is more accessible and it only need one bat & ball to start.
4. Regional Preferences: India is a big country with different states that use different languages and also have their own choice sports and its not like in every state football is not popular, northeast people do like it but in other reagion its not that popular

1. Poor Governance: Indian football is governed by The All India Football Federation (AIFF) and it has faced criticism for so many time for mismanagement, corruption, and no effective of vision to work on the growth football in the country.
2. Lack of Investment: As Football is not that famous in india that’s why its also not receives much funding and investment if we compared it with cricket and this make it very challenging to develop the sport or to provide awareness to play it.
3. Disorganization: Indian football don’t really have a well structured league system, with multiple leagues and tournaments causes confusion which is downgrading this sport’s popularity. Even though currently india has a wll knon league which is known as Indian Super League and its developing indian football but it will still take time.
4. Talent Drain: India’s best footballers often migrate to foreign leagues and its harming domestic football game and this is also a big issue that is somehow not allowing football to grow in india.

1. Growing Interest: The youth in India are taking more interest in football mainly because of the rising of foreign leagues such as the English Premier League and La Liga.
2. Indian Super League (ISL): The launching of the ISL in 2013 has helped raised the profile of the game and brought overseas players.
3. Government Initiatives: Special emphasis by the Indian government has also been seen in an attempt to encourage the game of football which incorporates National Football Development Programme.
4. Corporate Investment: The investment of the private entities in Indian football is resulting in better facilities and more marketing of the sport.