Patrick Sisupalan: A Foreigners point of view

British citizen Raman Patrick Sisupalan last season played for Viva Kerala in the I-League under the Players of Indian Origin quota. He has written down his views on things he saw and experienced last year in Indian football, especially on the issue of foreigners and PIO's.

I have enjoyed reading several articles recently and of course the discussion about the value of foreigners in Indian football. Such debates are not exclusive to India as many people here in England blame the poor performance in the world cup on the foreigner situation in the Premier league. Arsenal have notoriously few English players and have played Premier league matches without English players. England coach Fabio Capello claims there are not enough English players to chose from but Arsenal Coach Wenger claims English players improve by playing with better players.

In India the AIFF seems unable to make up its mind as to what restrictions on foreigners should be imposed. My point of view is in line with Wenger's thinking, that raising the standard in the I-League is important for the development of Indian players and encourages spectators too.

The argument that foreigners are restricting opportunities for Indians is weak for several reasons. Firstly, the I-League was due to have 16 teams this year which would have meant many more Indian players at the top level and further expansion to 18 teams would have increased this effect. Teams outside the I-League have little to play for. The talented young Shillong Lajong FC players will spend this season playing in local tournaments against weak opposition, waiting for the AIFF to announce the limited game 2nd division that will probably not commence till the mercury hits 40. So the AIFF needs to think about improving the second division and state leagues if they are genuinely worried about Indian players not playing enough games, before restricting foreigners.

The top foreigners earn huge amounts of money that if invested in youth football would be of far greater benefit to Indian football in the long term. I suggest a foreigner tax, say 20% of all salary spent on foreigners should be spent on a clubs youth academy. This may also make clubs more cautious when signing foreigners and hopefully we will see less of the average foreign players that seem to play only due to the fact they are foreign and earning a higher wage rather than their ability.

What is the point of having PIO's (Players of Indian Origin)?
Most I-League clubs did not recruit PIO players so restricting them makes very little difference to the league. We are not foreign mercenaries sending our cash home with no interest in the development of the game in India. I took a massive pay cut to play for Viva Kerala in India and found in Kerala, a thriving football culture that desperately needs some outside influences to take it to the next level.

Had Bob Houghton expressed any interest, I would have instantly applied for Indian nationality and I'm sure better and younger PIO's in the future would do the same and hopefully improve the national team.
I also received some media attention in England that has contributed to an increased awareness of the I-League back in the UK.

With regard to India's fascination with all things foreign, I offer no explanation except that such diffidence will evaporate as India's economic might grows. When foreign players arrived at Viva Kerala, there were always reporters and a TV camera but if an Indian arrived there was little interest. I can only commend Dempo coach Armando Colaco for not signing a third foreigner unnecessarily last season.

Finally, some highly paid foreigners have fallen in love with India and given something back. As reported in the media, Brazilians Jose Ramirez Barreto and Roberto Mendes Silva, better known as Beto, launched their own football Academy in Goa so the AIFF should think carefully when making decisions on foreigners.