Save Indian football, tap our OCI talent

It hasn't been a good week for Indian football. Actually, it hasn't been a good year, decade, half century... for Indian football. On Tuesday, India's dismal performance against Bangladesh in their opening home game of the AFC Asian Cup qualifier that ended in a goalless draw was just a dipstick of how bad things are. More qualitative indicators than scorelines and rank (we're No. 126 among 211 Fifa countries) tell a dire story. With Reliance-owned Football Sports Development Ltd (FSDL), established in 2013, to operate India's top football league, ISL, now reportedly set to slough off its involvement, it's an existential crisis for the world's most populous country's showing in the world's most popular game. Apart from Making Football-Watching Great Again, ISL was also supposed to be a breeding ground of domestic talent. That looks unlikely now.

Which is why it's necessary, as suggested by AIFF, to let Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) play for India. While the ostensible reason for considering foreign players of Indian origin to represent the Indian national team is the lack of a striker in the post-Sunil Chhetri era, its necessity is broader, deeper. OCI status allows permanent residency to people of Indian origin to live and work in India indefinitely. Top footballing nations like Brazil, England, France, and others like Australia and the US, recognise dual citizenship and have thrived by casting their nets wider than local pitches.

India is yet to recognise dual citizenship - odd in this age of permeable borders, shifting goalposts and Indian talent blooming across industries well beyond our borders. India's football establishment must allow OCI players to play for India. India deserves it. Indian football demands it.