Have such high profile matches any value for Indian football?

It is a hard hitting question and I differ from views expressed by numerous people in the media over the last few days. Surely there are some positives, but not really big one's which will take Indian football forward.



One is surely that 10,000s of fans were able to see a player of the calibre of Lionel Messi live at the Saltlake Stadium for a full international friendly along with other international stars whom they normally see on television or read about in newspapers.



Another positive is the money and effort spend on the Saltlake Stadium to improve facilities at the ground. I know through my past involvement that only due to such high profile matches the stadium has been getting a facelift and repairs over the last few years. Be it ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying match India vs Japan in September 2004 or the Oliver Kahn farewell match between FC Bayern Munich and Mohun Bagan in May 2008. Our own Indian boys will benefit from the better dressing rooms, a proper dugout and the improved players tunnel.



If such games do happen in the future, then such visiting sides should play our own boys; even if we get beaten heavily, it is great exposure which will help our football in the long-term.



But is it worth spending such money on an international friendly which does not even include Team India? Certainly not, then none of the people who follow such a game or rather in this case Lionel Messi will convert and become Indian football fans. One might actually alienate fans even more from Indian football due to given ground realities.



Surely football got more then the usual coverage in the Indian media, but once Messi is gone, all things will go back to normal with little to no coverage of Indian football with especially the I-League suffering.



In the end I have to say that except the money spend on the infrastructure there is no real value for Indian football. The overall budget of such a game would keep most of the I-League teams running over a 12 month period, to put things into perspective. But on the other side I doubt this money would have come into football without a star like Messi playing in such a high profile friendly.



Maybe some food for thought...