Ideally a news thread should just have the news links and may be just a few relevant discussions. Discussing rate and quality of Wordpress themes is totally off-topic. I would hope the admin deletes irrelevant posts including this one from this thread
India’s premier club football league I-League is in its sixth year now. In an exclusive interview with ‘The Navhind Times’, I-League CEO Sunando Dhar speaks about the progress made by the league, its popularity, marketing plans, its impact on Indian football, the challenges of running the tournament and his vision for I-League.
I-League is now in its sixth year. Are you satisfied with the progress made by the league?
Well, one cannot be fully satisfied with the progress of the I-League. On the positive side, I would like to say that I-League has got bigger and better with each passing year. It has become more professional. The quality has definitely improved. There are more teams in the I-League now than earlier. However, there are areas of concern. Infrastructure remains the biggest problem. No clubs in the I-League have their own stadium. Even there are no proper practice facilities for them. The lighting at various stadia is also bad. The quality of seats available for the public needs to be improved.
Does the onus of building grounds and other infrastructure lies only with clubs?
Yes. That area remains a huge concern. Even AFC has mentioned this rule that each club should have their own stadium for the actual match and a separate one for their practice session. Actually, even All India Football Federation (AIFF) cannot do much about this. It is the responsibility of the individual clubs to arrange grounds for them to practice.
What are the marketing plans for I-League?
IMG-Reliance, the commercial partner of AIFF has signed a three-year deal with Ten Sports to broadcast I-League across various platforms, such as television, IPTV, DTH, HITS, internet TV and mobile. As part of this deal, Ten Sports will broadcast the I-League competition through its football channel Ten Action, for three consecutive seasons starting with the 2012-13 season. Even the clubs are promoting the I-League by displaying various hoardings at the grounds about their matches.
There are plans for an IPL style model for Indian football next year. Your comments.
IMG-Reliance in collaboration with AIFF is working towards it. I cannot comment much on this.
The popularity of I-League remains a big question mark. There are fewer crowds for I-league matches in Goa as compared to Kolkata.
The clubs should introspect on this aspect and try to find out as to why lesser crowds are coming to watch their games. The clubs should also initiate marketing plans and try to increase their fan base and merchandising products. In developed nations, one-third of the total revenue generated from football matches come from ticket sales only. Whereas in India this is not the case.
I-League has not really helped Indian football. Many foreign players are playing I-League. We are still ranked a lowly 168th in FIFA rankings.
Grass-root development is the key. AIFF is working towards it. AFC and FIFA in collaboration with AIFF are setting up more academies in India. A positive change has been made. It’s a slow and gradual process. Nothing can happen overnight. The results will there to be seen in another 5-10 years’ time.
Comments
such a waste of 79$ for the wordpress theme... could have found a much better theme in that price range
No... The guys who made the websites for Pune FC, Shillong Lajong and MB could have.
> archak said:
> such a waste of 79$ for the wordpress theme... could have found a much better theme in that price range
> rudra said:
> > archak said:
> > such a waste of 79$ for the wordpress theme... could have found a much better theme in that price range
>
>
but having the option to customise iss a good thing to have in hand #personalexperience
Off-topic Alert!
> somesh said:
> #Off-topic Alert!
Ideally a news thread should just have the news links and may be just a few relevant discussions. Discussing rate and quality of Wordpress themes is totally off-topic. I would hope the admin deletes irrelevant posts including this one from this thread
looks like i-league.org is looking for feedback on website at facebook
I-League CEO Interview
India’s premier club football league I-League is in its sixth year now. In an exclusive interview with ‘The Navhind Times’, I-League CEO Sunando Dhar speaks about the progress made by the league, its popularity, marketing plans, its impact on Indian football, the challenges of running the tournament and his vision for I-League.
I-League is now in its sixth year. Are you satisfied with the progress made by the league?
Well, one cannot be fully satisfied with the progress of the I-League. On the positive side, I would like to say that I-League has got bigger and better with each passing year. It has become more professional. The quality has definitely improved. There are more teams in the I-League now than earlier. However, there are areas of concern. Infrastructure remains the biggest problem. No clubs in the I-League have their own stadium. Even there are no proper practice facilities for them. The lighting at various stadia is also bad. The quality of seats available for the public needs to be improved.
Does the onus of building grounds and other infrastructure lies only with clubs?
Yes. That area remains a huge concern. Even AFC has mentioned this rule that each club should have their own stadium for the actual match and a separate one for their practice session. Actually, even All India Football Federation (AIFF) cannot do much about this. It is the responsibility of the individual clubs to arrange grounds for them to practice.
What are the marketing plans for I-League?
IMG-Reliance, the commercial partner of AIFF has signed a three-year deal with Ten Sports to broadcast I-League across various platforms, such as television, IPTV, DTH, HITS, internet TV and mobile. As part of this deal, Ten Sports will broadcast the I-League competition through its football channel Ten Action, for three consecutive seasons starting with the 2012-13 season. Even the clubs are promoting the I-League by displaying various hoardings at the grounds about their matches.
There are plans for an IPL style model for Indian football next year. Your comments.
IMG-Reliance in collaboration with AIFF is working towards it. I cannot comment much on this.
The popularity of I-League remains a big question mark. There are fewer crowds for I-league matches in Goa as compared to Kolkata.
The clubs should introspect on this aspect and try to find out as to why lesser crowds are coming to watch their games. The clubs should also initiate marketing plans and try to increase their fan base and merchandising products. In developed nations, one-third of the total revenue generated from football matches come from ticket sales only. Whereas in India this is not the case.
I-League has not really helped Indian football. Many foreign players are playing I-League. We are still ranked a lowly 168th in FIFA rankings.
Grass-root development is the key. AIFF is working towards it. AFC and FIFA in collaboration with AIFF are setting up more academies in India. A positive change has been made. It’s a slow and gradual process. Nothing can happen overnight. The results will there to be seen in another 5-10 years’ time.