The World Cup qualifiers have delivered a stark verdict: India, a nation of 1.4 billion, will not be in the tournament. This is not a sporting anomaly.
It is a structural failure of governance, a case study in how institutional inefficiency squanders human capital. As an editor who has seen markets misprice risk, I recognise the parallels. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has been a classic example of bureaucratic drag.
For years, it has been rife with infighting, a lack of investment in grassroots development, and a failure to professionalise the domestic league. The result? A talent pipeline that is, to use a financial term, illiquid.
The national team’s FIFA ranking has been stuck in the 100s, a clear signal of systemic underperformance. When you have a population larger than Europe, you should have a deep bench of talent. Yet India consistently underperforms, not because of a lack of raw material, but because the governance structure is broken.
The question is: will the market correct this? Will the AIFF be restructured, or will it continue to be a black hole for talent and resources? The cost of this failure is not just sporting; it is economic.
Football is a global industry, and India is missing out on a lucrative market. The government must treat this as a fiscal crisis and impose structural reforms. Otherwise, the bondholders of Indian football – the fans – will continue to suffer returns that are below par.
