My Multimedia Project: improving interest in Indian football

Hi everyone.

This is the teaser to my Multimedia Project at Birmingham City University which features Arsenal Soccer School coach Luis Miguel Gorgulho who speaks about the necessity of youth academies in India.

My project centres around cultivating interest in Indian football, looking at what problems it suffers from and finding solutions to these problems.

I am a football fan. That being said, it makes me sad to see the plight of football in my home country, India. Fans of the beautiful game stay up late at night to watch Champions League football transmitted from Europe but do not switch on the television in the middle of the day to watch local football being played.

Stadia in Europe a world-class theatres with perfectly manicured pitches and top-of-the-range amenities that would make people want to go and watch games there. In India, however, football stadiums still employ stands and are more often empty than they are full on match days, in stark comparison to cricket grounds which often sell out to packed crowds.

With the intention of bringing awareness to what changes are currently taking place in Indian football, I plan to make a three-episode vidcast on the topic. This will be a hybrid TV show cum vidcast which will have the following episodes (though not in that particular order):

1.) What the fans think of the Indian game, why they follow the European game and what must be done to improve the quality of Indian football. This episode also contains interviews with players who currently play in India.

2.) The presence and development of youth football in India and the sporting culture present in the world's seventh largest nation.

3.) The presence of foreign football in India and how it is harming the local sport.

At the time of writing, filming for the first part of this vidcast has been completed. The episode should be out in roughly ten days time. It includes interviews with football fans and the Bangalore Gunners supporters group who organise screenings for Arsenal fans in the city. In addition, I have interviewed two Indian footballers.

The second episode should be out by the middle of May. This involves filming at youth academies throughout the city of Bangalore and the interviews of two individuals closely related to sport. One is a former state-level cricketer while the other is training to be an MMA fighter. I have also filmed at the Arsenal Soccer School in Oman, where I was able to discuss academy development in general.

The third episode features interviews with journalists from several organisations. These include ESPN, the Times of India, Hindustan Times and Sportskeeda.com. If feasible I am also going to try and get in touch with football representatives from both Australia and Japan, due to the rapid rise of the A-league and J-league respectively.

All footage used in these interviews have been taken with the permission of their respective owners. Do feel free to pass on your comments and suggestions to me.

Until Next Time,

Cheers