India’s recent football debacle has led to a massive uproar among football fans across the country. The fans have almost unequivocally demanded that the All India Football Federation (AIFF) must now make plans to recruit creme de la creme from all across the world players of Indian-origin, the Overseas Citizens of India (OCI), into all its national teams, in various age-groups, to accelerate the country’s growth and propel itself towards playing the world cups, and leave a stamp on global football.
The surge in football performances of countries like Indonesia, and even neighbouring South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, has pushed Indian football fans to the point of exasperation, which was felt by AIFF, especially after India’s embarassing 1-0 loss to minnows Hong Kong away, in AFC Asian Cup 2027 Saudi Arabia qualifiers, who ironically, did so, with naturalized players from South America, Africa, and Europe, going even a step ahead of importing origin players.
The AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey held a press-conference to address the issue, where he clarified that the Federation is trying its level-best to bring in OCI players, revealing that they shortlisted 33 players, and have approached the Government, who have given them ‘positive response’. “The AIFF is in communication with 33 players who fall into the category of OCI. Some of them have received their OCI cards, and others are in the process of attaining the same, with the assistance of the AIFF. We are committed to aligning with the laws of the land and the framework of the FIFA statutes for the inclusion of OCI players in India,” he said.
New sports policy gives boost to OCI movement.
Now, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports have brought the new National Sports Policy 2025 under the name of ‘Khelo Bharat Niti – 2025’. The Goverment of India through this policy has officially expressed its ambitious objectives to restructure and boost the footballing ecosystem in the country through engaging masses into the sports by restructuring the system, including sports science, boosting sports tourism, sports entrepreneurship, and use the sports for social development by encouraging underrepresented groups of the country.
Among the objectives mentioned, one specifically stands out – ‘Peace and International Cooperation Activities through’. It has been mentioned under this, “Sports can serve as a powerful bridge between the Indian diaspora and India, fostering enduring emotional, cultural and social connections. To strengthen this bond, dedicated sporting events and leagues can be organized specifically for and among the Indian diaspora. Wherever feasible, promising and prominent Indian-origin athletes living abroad may be encouraged to come back and play for India at the international level. Together, these efforts can transform sport into a dynamic tool of cultural diplomacy and nation-building, strengthening the global Indian identity.”This clearly outlines that the government now wishes to bring in OCI players for international representation across various sports.
This is not a surprising move, given the fact that India has now officially bid for 2036 Olympics, with Ahmedabad being the host city. The onus is now on the government to take steps to increase its representation in all sports and also boosting the quality, to shoot up in the medals tally, which can be done in short instant by bringing in the diaspora players from across the world. And football, is no exception.
“It gives federation a ray of hope, that OCI-PIO (Person of Indian Origin) players can be allowed to represent India as naturalized players. It is now a possibility,” said AIFF President Chaubey to PTI in this regard.
OCI movement makes progress in India – and headlines in East Asia!
However, unexpectedly, this recent development in Indian football landscape is making headlines abroad – towards east of Asia – In South Korea and Japan, as well as in China. Both Korea and Japan are one of the strongest in Asia and play FIFA World Cup regularly at all age levels in both men’s and women’s category. But the media as well football fans of these countries have expressed their concerns over India’s OCI quest, viewing it as a crisis awaiting them. Most of Indian diaspora plays in English leagues – in second division (EFL Championship), third division (EFL League One), etc. Also a significant number of Indian-origin players are also present in rest of European leagues and also in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the United States.
For instance, the Korean news media posted about how India’s quest for naturalization of players has worried the Chinese media and football fraternity, who fear the substantial rise in competition if this becomes a reality.
Japanese users also took to X to discuss the OCI concern. For instance:
Japanese media took to calling India as a potential ‘England B’ team.
While a huge step, in the form of National Sports Policy 2025 has made OCI approach much more possible, it is still a task far from done -Indian football fans have yet to witness it turn to reality.
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