Martin Joseph By

Express News Service

KOCHI: The Indian Women’s League, which starts in May, won’t be as high-profile an affair as the I-League or the Indian Super League. In fact, the only club from either league to feature in the IWL will be Gokulam Kerala FC. The month-long league which will be held in Ludhiana, will see the participation of fourteen teams.

In a year’s time, India will play host to the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup — a move which could, on paper, be termed as pathbreaking for women’s football. However, given the state of women’s football at the senior level, where no big club is participating in the national league, questions arise as to how effective things are at the grassroots level.

It is in this bleak scenario that Gokulam is setting an example for the other major clubs to follow. “Gokulam FC was formed because of pure passion. We have U-13, U-15 and U-18 teams and when there was an opportunity in women’s football, we did not want to say no. Last year we experimented and it was a good experience. This year we wanted to do the same,” Gokulam Kerala FC president VC Praveen said.

The Kerala club has signed Dalima Chhibber, who is one of the brightest prospects in the country. “I think we should talk about ISL and I-League clubs putting teams in the Indian Women’s League. With the kind of fanbase that these leagues have, they are the clubs who can help in promoting women’s football at a faster rate. If they get involved, then I feel that we will get more recognition,” the India international said. Dalima won the SAFF Cup with India recently and was also named the Most Valuable Player of the championship.

“We don’t distinguish or discriminate and we want to promote football in whatever way possible. If the Federation (AIFF) concentrates on women’s football, then it is bound to improve and the following is also going to increase. I think the AIFF needs to take the initiative and insist that all the clubs should have a women’s team also. It should be made mandatory.”

Despite Gokulam putting their best foot forward, there has been little interest from elsewhere.“There has been absolutely no support for women’s football. At one point of time, the senior championship and youth championship for women’s football used to happen regularly but over the last few years, we did not see that happening,” Sukhwinder Singh who was the former CEO of FC Goa said.Singh is currently the CEO of the Goa-based Sesa Football Academy and he played a big part in starting a women’s football league in Goa.