Exclusive: 'FIFA neglected India, but even India neglected football'

Jerome Champagne is no stranger to football and after serving under Sepp Blatter for 11 years from 1999 to 2010, the Frenchman has now launched his own FIFA presidential campaign.

One of Champagne’s governance challenges which he has outlined in his campaign is to bridge the gap between European football and the rest of the world — and this is why his views on India matter. Champagne was in Goa earlier in the year for a conference and makes some interesting observations about the situation of football in the country.

“Football in India is going through the same evolution that football in Brazil went through. Both places saw football develop in small pockets separated by distance,” he told Firstpost.

Listen to Jerome Champagne’s views on football in India

Champagne has always maintained that FIFA ‘could have done more’ in countries like India where the sheer size of the nation demands more attention. He has also proposed special task forces for ‘countries which are like continents’ and admits that FIFA should have paid more attention to India: “When Blatter visited India the first time, I was with him – it was the first time a FIFA president was visiting the country in 25 years so I have no problem in saying that FIFA neglected India.”

But, he also says that even Indians haven’t done enough for the sport in the country: “I also have to say that a lot of people in India don’t do enough for football in India. When I was in Goa I met a lot of people – but we need to bring investors. Your country has a fantastic economy – why isn’t the money coming into the game? Football is a great tool to promote products and improve their brands and to give a strong image of India outside of India. So your question I can reverse it. Not enough is done in India by Indians for Indian football.”

He also believes that leagues which generate revenue from India should give back more to the country: “I also think the English league should invest heavily in India – they’re making $45 million through TV rights in India but nothing is redistributed locally.”

The state of football in India is usually blamed on the lack of infrastructure and facilities, but Champagne pointed out other issues also: “The problem is how to find a balance in state FA competitions and the national league – both are important. Mizoram won it which shows that a state which has worked correctly on grassroots and with a rank and file developing, they can win.”

Champagne also spoke about IMG’s Indian Super League and said that even though the concept is good, he would have chosen a merger rather than a separate league which runs parallel to the country’s national league — saying that it’s hard for FIFA to develop something that lasts for just six weeks in a year.

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