Indian football’s honeymoon with the South Asian Football Federation Championships is over. Since its advent in 1993, India had won in six out of the nine competitions and in Dhaka, 2009 emerged victorious with a second string squad.

Previous finals had invariably won resounding victories. In the 1997 clash at Kathmandu, India trounced Maldives 5-0. Two years ago at the Nehru Stadium, Delhi, India beat Afghanistan 4-0. India as the dominant power in South Asian football was not surprising as in terms of infrastructure and money generated, they are a cut above the rest.
The Indian football industry is worth an estimated `200 crores. The salaries of Indian players at an average in the region of `40-50 lakhs per annum is also much better than their counterparts from neighbouring countries.
Yet at the recent 10th Saff Championships in Kathmandu, Indian football pride was jolted. The team struggled in beating Pakistan by an own goal, drawing with Bangladesh 1-1 due to an added time free kick goal by Sunil Chettri and losing to hosts Nepal 1-2.
The semi-final performance was better, beating Maldives 1-0. In the final India created more scoring chances but could not cope with Afghanistan’s swift counter-attacks and lost 0-2. Overall India won two, lost two and drew one match scoring just three goals (one own goal) and conceding five, an unconvincing performance.
There are various explanations for this debacle. Former national captain Baichung Bhutia feels longer national camps are needed as the Indian team with many younger players, are in a process of transition and so needs more time together. Fourteen of the 20 member Indian squad at the Saff Championchip had less than 20 caps and so it is a relatively inexperienced squad.
Also the change in the style of play from a long ball game (favoured by previous national coach Bob Houghton) to relying on a sequence of passes for building attacks requires longer time together.
Dutch national coach Wim Koevermans said that the dispute between the IMG-R league and the clubs is harming Indian football, as the players are disturbed and those who have not signed for the clubs did not have any pre-season training and so were not match fit.
Some critics have blamed Koevermans for using a split striker 4-4-1-1 system. They said Indian players were unused to playing with a lone striker and remained confused. Some claim a creative midfielder like Lal Kamal Bhowmick would have made a difference, if included. Yet others maintain that the team would have fared better if injured left midfielder Clifford Miranda noted for his accurate crosses and bustling right back Denzil Franco had been fit.
These technical excuses can be partially correct for India’s debacle at the recent Saff Championships. But an important factor to consider is government policy. India does not allow dual citizenship unlike most football nations. Afghanistan and Pakistan took advantage of their expatriates, several of whom played in the minor leagues of Europe and USA and strengthened their squads.
Due to this policy, India cannot use expatriates playing in minor leagues abroad. So the gap with other South Asian countries has narrowed.