The rise of the Indian woman footballer

Sabi Hussain in New Delhi

Have you heard of Oinam Bembem Devi, Sasmita Malik, Thokchom Umapati Devi or Ngangom Bala Devi? For football fans, whose knowledge of the Indian football is limited to Bhaichung Bhutia and Sunil Chhetri, these are the members of the national women's football team. They have served the Indian football with distinction over the years - in the case of Bembem and Sasmita, for decades. These footballers have remained away from limelight, which is generally reserved for their fancied male counterparts after the advent of money-spinning Indian Super League (ISL) for men's footballers.

Indian football fans can't be faulted. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) hasn't done anything worthwhile to uplift the standard of women footballers or promote their achievements and victory moments. This, despite the fact that the women's team is ranked 54 in the FIFA rankings, much higher than their male counterparts (129), and has an outside chance of qualifying for the AFC Cup next year and the Women's World Cup in 2019. In the Asian region, women's team is ranked 12th as compared to the men's 19th spot. It recently won its fourth consecutive South Asian Football Federation title, beating Bangladesh 3-1 in the final. The women's team is also the two-time South Asian Games champions and is unbeaten for 19 matches, having won 18 and drawn one. 

The women footballers have also faced hardships when the national team was rendered ineligible for FIFA rankings in 2009 for not playing a single match for 18 months. AIFF's step-motherly treatment towards them meant the women's team has failed to qualify for the Asian Cup since 2003 as other regional countries have made steady progress.

Between 1995 and 2003, the women's team was a regular at the Asian Cup, but not anymore. It's only very recently that the AIFF brought the daily allowances of the national women footballers on par with that of their male counterparts at Rs 700.

Well begun…

Despite all the neglect, the women football in India continued its pursuit for excellence. But, it seems, direction of the wind is changing in their favour with the unveiling of the much-awaited Indian Women's League (IWL) -- a six-city, franchise-based 18-day-long championship.

The IWL, which has teams from Haryana (FC Alakhpura), Pondicherry (Jeppiaar Institute of Technology FC), Mizoram (Aizawl FC), Maharashtra (FC Pune City), Odisha (Rising Student Club) and Manipur (Eastern Sporting Union), will be played in a round-robin format, with the top four teams advancing to the semifinals.

The sport's world governing body, FIFA, has been putting a lot of pressure on its member countries to develop women's football in the best possible way. IWL, thus, has been created after a great deal of 'encouragement' by FIFA. Nonetheless, this could lead to greater interest in women's football in India, which has generally been given much less importance than the men's sport.

However, the conduct of the IWL in its first season has left a lot to be desired. There is no official broadcaster, which means the matches won't be televised live. There are no promoters and sponsors, which means there will be no prize money for the winners and runners-up. It's difficult to understand how much a league that lasts a little over two weeks can do for the betterment of women's football in the country. But the players are happy that a beginning has been made.

"The league should have started earlier, but it's better late than never. A start has been made and we hope to gain from it," said Bembem Devi, who has been representing India for the past 20 years. "We would like to see our league getting as much attention as the ISL in future."

"During my early days, there wasn't any recognition for women's football in India. There was no infrastructure, funding and international exposure. It was very difficult to convince our parents to allow us playing football. Sometimes, I wouldn't tell my parents that I was going for the women team's selection trials for national camps. But, things have improved over the past few years for us. There have been a steady flow of funding and more international friendlies are lined-up. Recently, our team visited Bahrain, Uzbekistan and Japan for friendly matches. I believe, with the launch of the IWL, things would definitely improve," she said.

According to AIFF's technical director Scott O' Donnell, the IWL will uplift the standard of the country's women football. "Before the league, the women footballers would come for the national championships and leave for home after playing for three weeks. They won't play any competitive football for another year and would only come back for the next nationals. So, they weren't getting enough games. The IWL has provided a great opportunity to them to play competitively for three weeks, if not more," O'Donnell said.

"We got to take one step at a time. The league will definitely grow. We will have more teams in coming years and that will help in attracting more eyeballs both in terms of sponsors and spectators. Ideally, what we want in future is to have a home and away league," said the Australian.

League promotion

The IWL has also provided platform for young talents to showcase their skills competitively. In the case of Senorita Nongpluh, representing FC Pune City, the 12-year-old from Meghalaya is the youngest player ever in the IWL. For the 19-year-old Pyari Xaxa from Odisha's Kendripada, who is turning up for FC Rising Student, the league has finally been able to convince her parents that she has chosen a right career path for herself.

"I won the AIFF Emerging Player of the Year award in 2015. I had been part of India's U-16 and U-18 teams. But, my parents never realised my potential. For them, India had no footballing culture for women. But, after watching me play in the IWL and rubbing shoulders with some of the legends of the game, they were convinced that the football has a career for me," Xaxa said.