FIFA Fever In India
In a country where cricket is divine, FIFA fever makes you wonder whether the new generation is headed for a religious conversion.
India is ranked 133 in the world football ranking and the team has no chance of qualifying for a berth in the FIFA World Cup anytime soon. Nonetheless, it ranks third among all countries in online “world cup” searches. There’s an enormous appetite to watch football in the country. A Nielsen Global Online survey reported that half of all Indians claim to be fans and plan to watch the World Cup — the 10th highest in the world.
From southern Kerala to eastern Kolkata to northern Punjab, the country is in grip of football fever. Veteran sports journalist Raja Ramanna says, “Football’s not a sports story at all, it’s a love story, a long distance relationship, which is totally short of any logic behind it, as if any love story has one. For some this love story even turns into a matter of life and death.”
