The All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced plans on Sunday to launch an annual invitational multi-continent Champions Cup, with the first edition slated to be held in August 2017.
The tournament will be played between four countries, and could see participation from teams in Asia, Africa and North America.
On paper, this appears to be a step in the right direction, with India's recent international performances having seen the team win 11 out of their last 13 matches, and a bulk of those wins coming in 2016. India are also unbeaten in two away games this year, beating both Cambodia in a friendly, and Myanmar in the first of their 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers. When the FIFA rankings come out shortly, there is speculation of the Indian ranking going anywhere between 99 and 101.
India are already slated to play four more Asian Cup qualifiers this calendar year, with another two friendlies pencilled in against Lebanon in June and Palestine in October. The proposed three matches of the Champions Cup could make 2017 one of the busiest years for the national team in recent memory, though the AIFF has also mentioned their intent to "consistently climb" up the FIFA rankings by playing "good" opponents.
There are, however, a few points to ponder over, and a few questions that require some clarity.
Is this the Nehru Cup, rebooted a third time?
The original multi-nation international event in India that captured the imagination of the Indian football community was the Nehru Cup, launched in 1982 with a star-studded field that included teams like Uruguay, China, South Korea and representational teams of Italy and erstwhile Yugoslavia.
The 1984 edition saw an Argentina team, most of whom went on to win the FIFA World Cup two years later in Mexico, beat India by a lone goal in the 79th minute of play.
The Nehru Cup would come to a slow demise in 1997, but then saw a revival in 2007, around the time that AIFF had a broadcast deal with Zee Sports. It was held again in 2009, and there was one last Nehru Cup in 2012, though the quality of teams in each edition was steadily on the wane.
India won all of the three tournaments in the new millennium, but the last of those came against a representational team from Cameroon.
Is the Champions Cup guaranteed to be any different? Because if the Nehru Cup experience is repeated, then a match against a Cameroon non-international side, for instance, will not add anything to the points that go in to the FIFA rankings.
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Who would come and play?
Typically, the Nehru Cup worked in its older formats because it often involved a field of six teams or so, guaranteeing teams a run of five games even if they failed to make the final.
This enabled a West Asian team like Syria to keep sending teams of near-full strength, because these matches gave them valuable practice ahead of a typically busy FIFA calendar of games in September and October.
If the assumption is that India will improve in rankings, and we add to that the claim that the teams will be from North America and Africa, it does queer the pitch about the kind of teams that might be heading to India then.
The only motivation to come all the way would normally have been to get a guaranteed number of games in a usually barren period for international teams. Besides, most of the leagues in Europe start by August, so it is highly unlikely that any team with either a good international ranking in FIFA or with their top players playing in the best leagues abroad, would be keen on coming over with their best possible elevens.
It will be an interesting balancing act to find "good" teams, with all available players, and with a suitable window to come play international matches in India ahead of their regular domestic seasons.
Sponsors' pressure could make the difference
The commitment for the Champions Cup looks strikingly similar on paper to what was spoken of during the time of the Zee deal as well. Zee had signed their broadcast deal in 2005, originally for five years and then extendable to 10, with a guaranteed number of international matches by the Indian team as one of the clauses.
There was initially talk not just of reviving the Nehru Cup, but also making it an annual affair, or supplementing a biennial tournament with a series of international friendlies. However, both parties failed to completely deliver, allowing AIFF to close that deal and sign on IMG-Reliance as their commercial and marketing partners in 2010.
The difference here could be that AIFF's partners have a much greater say in Indian football than they ever did even seven years ago. The chances of plans announced and not being seen through to their logical conclusion appear fewer this time round.
Internationals over ISL?
Another logical question is that if the AIFF's partners are seemingly more inclined towards promoting the Indian Super League (ISL), then why would they be interested in seeing the national team play more matches?
One thing that even IMG-Reliance recognise is that the national team's performances are followed well, and have greater traction on social media than even the best of ISL matches. They would be aware that a robust national team calendar is in their best interest as well.
However, one concern is that the Indian team could end up playing lesser international matches during a proposed longer ISL season, with AIFF citing the Champions Cup as an example of adequate matches played. It is something that may not kick in from this season yet, with the Under-17 World Cup in October probably forcing a re-arranged domestic football calendar in any case.
