Professional football leagues may seem diverse at first glance, but when placed under a magnifying glass, the true disproportionality in race becomes quite apparent. Where are the Indian footballers? Why is India’s impact on world football almost unheard of?
It certainly isn’t due to a lack of interest in the sport— the Indian Super League is a top-tier federation garnering millions of views across the country. But this concentration of Indian football players is one-of-a-kind. Internationally (that is, outside of India), the number of Indian football players in professional leagues can be counted on one hand. Odd, right? Especially given the relationship between Great Britain and India, these staggering facts leave the mind wondering why the historical overseas connection does not extend to opportunities within British football.
Of course, there are a select few that have made it out of India into bigger leagues, such as Sunil Chhetri, an idolized star who, in 2010, became the third Indian to play outside of South Asia and the first Indian to play for a United States Major League Soccer team. Chhetri is even in the top 10 international goal-scorers worldwide! He is representative of the dreams of countless young footballers in India, but even his success and talent could not get him the coveted ticket to a European football league.
One major problem and barrier to entry into European leagues is FIFA’s country rankings. According to these rankings, India currently sits at number 106 worldwide, which is a long shot away from the number 70 slot required for proper consideration into larger leagues. FIFA, or Federation Internationale de Football Association, is essentially a world government for soccer. If FIFA were to be a real country, India would unfortunately be a mere speck on the map.
The disparity in representation doesn’t solely apply to Indians or those of Southeast Asian descent: Asians as a whole are notably left out of the biggest football leagues in the world such as the Premier League and La Liga. This begs the question of whether it is the roots of Asian work culture deterring people from pursuing football professionally, or if it is simply that the cards needed to play in Western football leagues are condemningly stacked against Asians. Personally, I bet on the latter.
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