Is Meghalaya investing in football or just funding a spectacle?

Meghalaya is fast becoming an important venue for international and national football, which is a great boost for the game in the state. 

The game has always been the most popular choice for many in the state, but despite the enthusiasm about it, the state has not featured prominently in the national team setup, whether it is the men's or women’s team. In the last few years, we have had a lot of players from the state playing on the junior team, with Halen Nongtdu captaining the national team to victory in the SAFF U-20 Championship in 2022. 

But it has been quite some time since there has been a player from the state playing for the senior national team. The last player to do so was Samuel James Lyngdoh Kynshi, and the only player who seems to be knocking on the door of the national team is Redeem Tlang, who finally found his feet for North East United FC (NEUFC). 

But with high competition for limited places, he will need to keep performing before he is called up for the national setup.

Recently, the Indian national women’s team arrived in Shillong to play two international matches, with the stadium hosting an additional one between the other teams, viz., Iran and Nepal. Recently, the men’s team had played against the Maldives and Bangladesh in the same stadium. 

But it was unfortunate that there were no players from Meghalaya in those matches. And there will be none on the women’s team as well. There are two players right now who are playing for the national U-17 women’s team, viz., Alisha Lyngdoh and Bonifilia Shullai, and they have put in some decent performances on the field.

However, the transition to the senior team is big, and many outstanding players from the youth setup don’t make the jump as expected. A lot has to do with luck but also mental strength. So, we hope that both Alisha and Bonifilia can one day play for the national team and become regulars.

So, it would appear that the government has actually done a lot to improve the game in the state. Recently, they announced the signing of a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NEUFC aimed at boosting football development and promoting Shillong as the ‘Football Capital’ of India. Under the MoU, the parties, the Meghalaya Government and NEUFC, will collaborate on football camps, coach education programmes, fan parks, and youth-focused awareness initiatives aimed at nurturing grassroots talent and enhancing fan engagement. 

“This long-term partnership will help Meghalayan youths unlock new opportunities in football, promote tourism, and generate jobs in the state,” Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma said. 

Although I don’t have access to the complete details of the MoU, the outcomes reported are very vague. There is talk about “boosting football development,” “nurturing grassroots talent,” “enhancing fan engagement,” etc. Such language makes it impossible to measure tangible achievements. Even Shillong becoming the ‘Football Capital’ of India might sound good from the perspective of tourism, which actually is a component of the deal, but it doesn’t really bring about any significant change for football in the state.

Meghalaya is already a football-crazy state. In recent years, the MSL (Meghalaya State League) has created a platform for clubs from across the state to compete for the title. The first edition was won by Niaw Wasa United from West Jaintia Hills, which was a very positive start for the tournament. Shillong Premier League (SPL) sides have won the last three editions, but in at least one of them, the other finalist was a team from West Khasi Hills, Khliehmawlieh YC. 

This was a good sign of the game getting stronger in places beyond East Khasi Hills and the state capital. In this year’s SPL, we have a few Garo players playing for different teams, demonstrating that the game is improving beyond the Khasi region. Not long ago, there was a Meghalaya Baby League (for 4 to 13-year-olds), and now there’s the SSA Women’s Football League, which gives a platform to female players who want to take their game to the next level. 

One disappointment has been the discontinuation of the U-19 SPL, which in recent times saw the emergence of players like Chesterpaul Lyngdoh and Shano Tariang. I feel the competition should make a comeback. There are already quite a few academies, and in recent times some, like Lah Bet FC, have done well for themselves.

With all this going on, I am not really sure how much more visibility it will bring to the game when the game is already quite popular in the state. Grassroots initiatives are already underway, and the Meghalaya Football Association (MFA) has been working really hard, and the results are already apparent. 

Even before this new agreement, Conrad Sangma had announced last year that NEUFC is going to establish a residential football academy in the state’s capital city of Shillong. Have they established that? How many players from the state are in their youth set-up already? How many of them are on the verge of becoming part of the senior team? This new agreement will cost the state exchequer Rs 24 crore over the three-year period. 

The Department of Tourism will contribute Rs 5 crore annually to the project, while the Directorate of Sports & Youth Affairs will allocate Rs 2 crore, Rs 3 crore, and Rs 4 crore each year over the period. But if no players from the state become part of the senior team, and after three years NEUFC leaves the state Rs 24 crore poorer, how is that benefiting football in the state? We need more players like Redeem Tlang on the team who will play regularly and hopefully one day play for the national team. Otherwise, it’s money down the drain, and I’m not really sure who benefits from it.

There will be an argument made that a place in the senior team, especially for a team like NEUFC, which has achieved outstanding success in recent years, should be based on merit. 

Players should fight for a spot with everyone and then get to stake a claim. I have watched enough football over the years to understand that there is no dearth of talent anywhere in the world. What players need is the opportunity to play regularly at a higher level. 

Consider the Eredivisie or the Bundesliga, where young players regularly play for top clubs; then contrast this with the English Premier League, where there has always been a complaint that young English players are not developing because of the influx of talent from other places who have developed by playing regularly. The best example right now is Florian Wirtz, who is just 22 years old but had already played 140 games for Bayer Leverkusen before making the switch to Liverpool for over 100 million pounds. 

How many English players have played a similar amount of games at the top level for their respective clubs at such a young age? When Germany won the World Cup, two teams from the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, were in the Champions League final with several German players in their lineup. No wonder the German national team is declining since Bayern Munich started dominating the Bundesliga, turning it into a ‘Mickey Mouse League’. So, it’s not that players from Meghalaya are not ready to play on the big stage; they just need regular game time at a higher level.

Three years down the line, with 24 crores spent, and if no players from the state are getting regular game time in the ISL, this agreement will have been a disaster. It doesn’t matter if we have World Cup matches in Shillong. If there are no local players, it’s not a game I am going to be thrilled to watch. In fact, it will be a humiliation if that happens. 

If there is no guarantee of opportunities for players from the state, it would be better to give the 24 crores and various incentives to a Shillong team so they can win the I-League and enter the ISL. Why not give the money to Shillong Lajong, Mawlai, Rangdajied or Langsning, who will make sure that local players will always get the opportunity to prove themselves? That will be a better option.

(The views expressed in the article are those of the author and do not reflect in any way his affiliation to any organisation or institution)

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