Countries with longer and richer histories of professional club sports than India have witnessed the establishment of complex, profound relationships between clubs and their supporters, players, staffs and stadiums. In many cases, support for a team connotes not just parochial sentiments, but also political leanings (in Rome, Lazio supporters were traditionally right-wing while A.S. Roma’s leaned left), religious identities (Catholic Glaswegians support Celtic and their Protestant brethren Rangers), and ethnic pride (Catalans regularly rally around FC Barcelona and Basques frequently identify with Athletic Bilbao). Such sentiments appear even more irrational given that these clubs’ players are frequently foreign nationals. Yet such distinctions, developed over decades, provide the clubs with large, unwavering fan bases.

But instilling clubs with an identity is also not a sole guarantor of success. While last year’s initial Indian Cricket League (ICL) competition was perhaps unprecedented in enabling international stars to play alongside domestic Indian cricketers divided along regional lines, the single venue and short-term nature of the competition worked only to minimise the cultivation of potential supporters.

Assuming the IPL catches on with the masses — and there are few reasons to suggest that it should not — a whole other set of problems will almost certainly arise. Firstly, will the new professional league encroach heavily upon the international calendar? Football is perhaps the only sport to have regular, high-profile club and international competitions, but their coexistence is not always peaceful, as seen by recent disputes between powerful G-14 clubs on the one hand and FIFA and UEFA on the other.

... contd.