Indian fans to visit Qatar World Cup

Friday, September 16, 2022

In spite of the fact that the Indian team hasn’t found a place in the imminent FIFA World Cup, Indian football aficionados will visit Qatar to observe the mega sporting show. Over 23,500 of the 1.8 million Qatar World Cup 2022 tickets sold in the first two periods were bought by Indian football fanatics. India ranked eighth in terms of ticket purchase after the first phase of ticketing for the football event.

During the last FIFA World Cup in 2018, almost 18,000 Indian fans visited Russia. India had the third maximum devotees in Russia among non-competing countries, after the US and China.

What is the inspiration behind the fans of a country whose women’s team ranks 58th while their men’s unit ranks 104th and has never contested in a World Cup to visit the world’s biggest sporting display in such huge numbers?

On a nationwide level, India’s football set-up looks quite dull. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) subsidy has been reduced by 85 per cent in May this year. The subsidy reduction is justified by the men’s team’s pitiable presentation, absence of organization in the women’s game, dearth of ticket sales in conspicuous stadiums and inadequate development at the grassroots level.

Last month, FIFA briefly disqualified India due to third-party intrusion. However, the ban has been taken away now. Nevertheless, the factors above do not mean that India is unfamiliar with football.

Even though India will not take part in the World Cup, Indians will surely make their presence felt in large numbers during the FIFA World Cup.

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