On 3 March, Kerala Blasters’ men’s team walked off during an Indian Super League playoff and did not come back. If that was shocking, it was nothing compared with what happened next. Kerala were hit with a hefty fine and, in response, cancelled their women’s team in June to general incredulity and anger. What happened on the pitch was clear for all to see, though there is some disagreement as to why and, just as importantly, when the big decision was made.
It all started near the end of the playoff between Bengaluru and Kerala with a place in the championship semi-finals at stake. Seven minutes into extra time, Sunil Chhetri, the third-highest active international goalscorer behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, chipped in a free-kick for Bengaluru when the Blasters were still getting ready.
The players were called off the pitch by their Serbian manager, Ivan Vukomanovic, and ended up forfeiting the game. Among the punishments was a fine of almost £400,000 and, after an appeal failed this month, Kerala’s women ended up paying the price.
“It is with a heavy heart that we must announce the temporary pause of our women’s team,” Kerala said in a statement. “This decision has been necessitated by the recent financial sanctions imposed on our club by the football federation.”
The response was fierce and the national team goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan summed up the mood of many. “So the men’s team gets a fine for what they did and the money comes from the women’s team budget by shutting it down?” she asked on social media. “Great, that’s how women’s football will develop in India. Horrible!”
The Kerala fan group Manjappada was also unhappy: “Disappointed would be an understatement. Pathetic decision from the management to pause operations of the women’s team. Hard to believe that the decision was taken after the sanctions imposed on the club.” The situation reverberated outside South Asia too. The veteran Swedish goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl asked: “When will women’s football be fully respected?”
That is a crucial question. A player for Kerala’s women’s team told the Guardian the decision to cut the team had actually been taken earlier in the year. If true, the fine could provide a perfect excuse. This was strongly denied when put to a Kerala spokesperson, though the club declined to give further details.
It has also been noted that the men’s team, one of the best-supported in the country, are strengthening for next season and signed Jaushua Sotirio from Australia’s Newcastle Jets for an undisclosed fee in May.
That suggests there is some money available, and with the women’s team not exactly a big-budget affair after being formed just last year, anger is understandable. There have been calls for Kerala to rethink and quickly. The India Football Federation’s general secretary, Shaji Prabhakaran, said the situation was for the club to sort out and would not distract from national development plans.
“Women’s football is the utmost priority,” Prabhakaran told the Guardian, citing the new eight-team Indian Women’s League that will provide annual contracts worth a minimum of £3,000. “When the players start earning, more girls will come into the system to play football.” Getting to the schools is a crucial step. “It is very limited at the moment as only a handful of schools promote football for girls and while they do a good job, it’s not enough.”
The absence of Kerala will be keenly felt. Indian football has historically struggled to command nationwide support with development, so far, fuelled by passion from hotbeds in places such as the southern state. That is even more true for the women’s game.
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“Around 60-70% of the national team comes from Manipur,” said Prabhakaran, referring to the north-eastern state that borders Myanmar. “For the last 10 years they have had good competition, a strong community and provided encouragement for the girls.”
Now Odisha, an ambitious eastern state which styles itself as the sporting capital of the country and co-hosted the 2022 Under-17 Women’s World Cup, is getting in on the act. “Odisha is growing, this is now the world centre of hockey and offering more in cricket and there are two or three more states as well.”
Expanding these pockets will be crucial if targets are to be met. “By 2036 we want to be in the top eight in Asia and by 2047 [a century after independence], we want to be in the top four,” Prabhakaran said.
That would mean World Cup appearances but this July and August India will have to follow the 2023 tournament from afar. “People will watch, there is growing interest,” Prabhakaran said. “It is going in a positive direction. We are not there yet but there are five to six girls playing outside India and that is encouraging more girls to play as they are doing well.”
Indian women will need all the encouragement they can get if their teams can be disbanded as a punishment for the ill-thought-out actions of their male counterparts. The hope is that Kerala will reverse another ill-thought-out decision and perform a U-turn which could mean the walk-off will eventually be seen as a positive step in the development of the women’s game.
