When a country with the population of Shimla can beat a country with a population of more than a billion, and without breaking too much sweat at that, you know there’s a serious problem. That’s what exactly happened when the Indian football team travelled to the idyllic Pacific island of Guam only to suffer a 2-1 defeat.
Two years ago, India had defeated Guam 4-0. What has changed in the meantime to make Guam such a dominant force? If you ask Stephen Constantine, the current Indian football coach, its Guam’s imported talent. And he’s pushing for India to follow Guam’s example.
Time to allow OCIs and PIOs to play for India?
Constantine has pointed out that “75 percent of the players who represented Guam have been born and brought up in the United States, and that made a huge difference.” Gary White, the Guam coach, has spoken about recruiting players from abroad, especially Guam-origin players who ply their trade in the top football league in the US, the Major League Soccer.
On his part, Constantine has been calling on the Indian government to allow him to do the same with the Indian football team. On his official blog, the Englishman wrote that he would like the opportunity to select players of Indian origin, or whose who have Indian roots, for the national team. Of course, Constantine hastened to add that it wasn’t a long-term solution but “a way where we can improve results in the next few years.”
Unfortunately for Constantine, it doesn’t seem likely that his wishes will come true any time soon. In 2008, a circular was released, stating explicitly that only Indian passport-holders would be allowed to represent India at international events. And it doesn’t look like this policy is going to be changed very soon. An Indian Express report quoted Ajit Sharan, the current sports secretary as saying, “As of now, I would say there is little chance of this happening.”
The question of allowing OCI (Overseas Citizen of Indian) and PIO (Person of Indian Origin) cardholders isn’t a new one. The issue first came up in 2008, when, owing to the circular allowing only Indian passport holders to represent India, Vijay Amritraj's son Prakash Amritraj, an American citizen, was barred from representing India. Other Indian-origin tennis players who missed out included Sunitha Rao and Shikha Uberoi.
The rules regarding Indian passport holders were further set in stone when the National Sports Development Code came into effect in 2011. It clearly spelt out that individuals having OCI or PIO cards could not represent India. Hit by a surge of boycott threats in 2013, the All India Tennis Association made a belated effort to change the regulations and try to get Prakash Amritraj to play for India in the Davis Cup. However, the Sports Ministry stuck to its guns and refused to change the rules. At that time, Vijay Amritraj was quite vocal in his disappointment and declared that “India had backtracked on passport policy.”
Multi-national citizens are a common sight in football
Coming back to football, what will frustrate Constantine even more is that he is bound by rules which other teams don’t have to play by. People with dual nationalities are a common feature in football now. Lionel Messi had a choice to choose between Spain and Argentina and ended up playing for Argentina while Chelsea midfielder Diego Costa, Brazilian by birth, chose to play for Spain.
Closer home, there are more such instances. Leaving aside the example of Guam, the current Pakistani national football team includes players like Zesh Rehman (born in England), Nabil Aslam (born in Denmark) and Otis Khan (born in England). The Philippines squad also contains players with ancestry outside the Philippines.
It’s also not as though India is struggling to attract talent. Michael Chopra, a former English Premier League player, has openly expressed his desire to don the Indian cap and has even talked about giving up his British passport for an Indian one. Other examples include Harmeet Singh (who currently plays for Norwegian club Molde) and Netan Sansara (a former Walsall footballer).
Critics of allowing PIOs and OCIs to play for the national team contend that it would lead to a neglect of grassroots systems. While that is a valid point, it also has to be kept in mind that the inclusion of these players may infuse a new level of professionalism in the Indian set up. Consequently, if the Indian team does well because of their contributions, there will be more and more youngsters looking at football as a viable career option, which will, in effect, force the All India Football Federation to ensure that the grassroots systems are not overlooked.
Instead of completely ruling out the possibility, it would probably be a more prudent move for the Sports Ministry to initiate discussions with all Indian national sporting bodies and try to arrive at some sort of understanding.
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Two years ago, India had defeated Guam 4-0. What has changed in the meantime to make Guam such a dominant force? If you ask Stephen Constantine, the current Indian football coach, its Guam’s imported talent. And he’s pushing for India to follow Guam’s example.
Time to allow OCIs and PIOs to play for India?
Constantine has pointed out that “75 percent of the players who represented Guam have been born and brought up in the United States, and that made a huge difference.” Gary White, the Guam coach, has spoken about recruiting players from abroad, especially Guam-origin players who ply their trade in the top football league in the US, the Major League Soccer.
On his part, Constantine has been calling on the Indian government to allow him to do the same with the Indian football team. On his official blog, the Englishman wrote that he would like the opportunity to select players of Indian origin, or whose who have Indian roots, for the national team. Of course, Constantine hastened to add that it wasn’t a long-term solution but “a way where we can improve results in the next few years.”
Unfortunately for Constantine, it doesn’t seem likely that his wishes will come true any time soon. In 2008, a circular was released, stating explicitly that only Indian passport-holders would be allowed to represent India at international events. And it doesn’t look like this policy is going to be changed very soon. An Indian Express report quoted Ajit Sharan, the current sports secretary as saying, “As of now, I would say there is little chance of this happening.”
The question of allowing OCI (Overseas Citizen of Indian) and PIO (Person of Indian Origin) cardholders isn’t a new one. The issue first came up in 2008, when, owing to the circular allowing only Indian passport holders to represent India, Vijay Amritraj's son Prakash Amritraj, an American citizen, was barred from representing India. Other Indian-origin tennis players who missed out included Sunitha Rao and Shikha Uberoi.
The rules regarding Indian passport holders were further set in stone when the National Sports Development Code came into effect in 2011. It clearly spelt out that individuals having OCI or PIO cards could not represent India. Hit by a surge of boycott threats in 2013, the All India Tennis Association made a belated effort to change the regulations and try to get Prakash Amritraj to play for India in the Davis Cup. However, the Sports Ministry stuck to its guns and refused to change the rules. At that time, Vijay Amritraj was quite vocal in his disappointment and declared that “India had backtracked on passport policy.”
Multi-national citizens are a common sight in football
Coming back to football, what will frustrate Constantine even more is that he is bound by rules which other teams don’t have to play by. People with dual nationalities are a common feature in football now. Lionel Messi had a choice to choose between Spain and Argentina and ended up playing for Argentina while Chelsea midfielder Diego Costa, Brazilian by birth, chose to play for Spain.
Closer home, there are more such instances. Leaving aside the example of Guam, the current Pakistani national football team includes players like Zesh Rehman (born in England), Nabil Aslam (born in Denmark) and Otis Khan (born in England). The Philippines squad also contains players with ancestry outside the Philippines.
It’s also not as though India is struggling to attract talent. Michael Chopra, a former English Premier League player, has openly expressed his desire to don the Indian cap and has even talked about giving up his British passport for an Indian one. Other examples include Harmeet Singh (who currently plays for Norwegian club Molde) and Netan Sansara (a former Walsall footballer).
Critics of allowing PIOs and OCIs to play for the national team contend that it would lead to a neglect of grassroots systems. While that is a valid point, it also has to be kept in mind that the inclusion of these players may infuse a new level of professionalism in the Indian set up. Consequently, if the Indian team does well because of their contributions, there will be more and more youngsters looking at football as a viable career option, which will, in effect, force the All India Football Federation to ensure that the grassroots systems are not overlooked.
Instead of completely ruling out the possibility, it would probably be a more prudent move for the Sports Ministry to initiate discussions with all Indian national sporting bodies and try to arrive at some sort of understanding.