Below are some interesting information about Indian football that can make you go wow!
Football is not comparable to cricket
The Economic Times’ survey in late June 2018 showed that there are more than 90% of cricket fans worldwide are India. The number of people joing is over 1 billion.
Specifically, this number is more than 900 million. India’s population in 2018 was over 1.3 billion. Therefore, it means there are 70% of Indians people loving this sport. It can be seen this sport has a great impact on this country.
Mess with 2 national championships
Now, there 2 two national championships in India that make many people confused. In the past, I-League was the only official tournament of India is recognized by FIFA as well as AFC. However, in 2013, AIFF announced the launch of a new tournament called the Indian Super League, which was inspired by MLS. At the first time in 2014, there were only 8 teams taking part in this tournament.
One of the most contradictory factors between the two championships is the issue of trade. In 2014, ISL made a big surprise as it has the largest audience in Asia. The average number is up to 22,639 people each match.
Football background scandalous
India went to the final round of the 1950 World Cup, but they stop there. Rumor has it that the South Asian nation did not attend because the players refused to wear shoes when playing, while FIFA has a rule that requires players not to play barefoot. Nevertheless, AIFF had denied this rumor and showed the main reason is that careful preparation.
Jamshedpur striker Gourav Mukhi playing in the ISL goes down in history as the youngest player to score at the tournament when he was 16. However, subsequent investigations revealed that Gourav was cheekily cheating, when he was 28 years old, not 16 as on paper.