SAFF countries have a large number of football followers of different football leagues across the world but their own football teams are not even in the top 20 of Asia at the moment.
India is definitely the highest fifa ranked team among the SAFF nations but their development & progress is nowhere compared to other Asian countries like Uzbekistan, Tajikistan or Asean Countries.
But one of the biggest advantages for South Asian Countries or SAFF Nations compared to other Asian countries is that their large populations migrated to different parts of the world. So some of this population’s 2nd or 3rd generation kids are now into football, particularly people who migrated into Europe. And now they are playing football for different European clubs.
So now countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka & Pakistan through their dual nationality or dispora player rule allow them to represent their national team. Because these OCI/PIO players have developed in better footballing structures, their basic skills, knowledge & understanding of the game is far better than their home grown players & also all of these countries don’t have that kind of football structure, competition, development program, Infrastructure, coaches etc.
Recently, Sri Lanka played in the FIFA World Series where they called up more than 10 diaspora players. Bangladesh working to bring Hamza Choudhary who currently plays for Leicester City F.C. Pakistan also increases their list through recent addition of diaspora players like Mckeal Abdullah ( Mansfield Town FC) & Adam Khan (BackBurn Rovers FC). All of these players play in much more competitive & professional leagues in Europe compared to their home grown players. And they don’t want to stop here by bringing one or two players. They are already working to find more such players to improve their national team performance at international level.
Now where does India stand in all of this scenario? India also has some great OCI/PIO players who play in top European leagues. And India can build two footballing sides from these players. But the problem is Indian law. Which does not allow these types of players to represent the Indian National Team. It can definitely change but for that Indian Government needs to change law.
So what’s the impact if India doesn’t change the rule in the near future? India’s domination in SAFF competition comes into danger or might be over. Because one thing common between all these SAFF countries is that they don’t have a competitive football structure & competent federation. India is more or less the same. So if India wants to produce top quality players, they at least need a 10 year development plan & need to execute it properly then they can expect something. But in between these 10 years the short term solution for your national team’s growth is PIO/OCI players & in the meantime they can focus on development of grassroot football.
Lastly, It’s a wake up call for the Indian Football Stakeholders (AIFF) & Indian government to take some step in this direction otherwise India’s domination in SAFF countries also will be over soon.
