Kolkata: The start of India’s football season amid the COVID-19 pandemic has Sourav Ganguly excited. The BCCI boss believes a smooth ISL would go a long way in driving away the ‘fear’ of conducting big events across the nation. Sourav Ganguly is the co-owner of ATK Mohun Bagan football club. He said Thursday the success of Indian Super League (ISL) in a bio-bubble in Goa will inspire other sports. Ganguly recently oversaw the successful conduct of the IPL in a bio-bubble in the UAE.
“…It’s a huge occasion being the first live sport in India (post-lockdown). It’s the beginning of something very, very good because life needs to get back to normal. We need to get back to our lives and keep that fear away,” Ganguly said in an Instagram live session for ISL’s official handle.
“More than people getting affected, it’s also the fear which is affecting people. People are saying ‘I don’t want to go there’, I don’t want to mix among people’. I think a very good ISL season will clear all the cobwebs and doubts in everybody’s mind,” the former Indian captain added.
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Ganguly had earlier announced that the BCCI was looking to start the domestic season from January 1. He said the ISL’s success would inspire a lot of other sports who have been ‘tentative’ to start.
“It would inspire a lot of other sports as well and I say that including cricket. Our domestic season will start soon. We’re looking to start in the New Year. ISL will inspire us,” Ganguly said.
Also read: ISL begins Friday: Football set for Indian return amid COVID-19
“We have a lot more teams actually – 38 teams in the domestic season. It’ll inspire us to feel that security, if ISL goes without any hiccups. I’m sure it is going to happen because the bubbles have been created. A lot of sports are still tentative. A lot of them don’t know how it is going to affect (them) because the numbers in some of the states are still very high,” Ganguly added.
Many including Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri have admitted that staying so long in a bio-bubble isn’t ‘easy’. However, Ganguly said players would be fine once they soak in the pressure of the tournament.
“Having seen the IPL very, very closely, the best thing is that they’re getting to play the game. It’s no point sitting at home. It’s no point being foolish and breaking the bio-bubble. Then it’s going to jeopardise the entire tournament,” Ganguly pointed out.
Ganguly said a lot of players in the IPL said they did not realise how tough the bio-bubble was. This is because they remained involved in the game. “There was the pressure of winning and losing, there was a challenge to do well. The footballers will also face the same challenges and you will see this time quickly pass away,” asserted Ganguly.
“The best thing for them is they’re getting to play the sport which they love the most, and there cannot be any substitute for this,” he added.
The talk of the seventh edition of the tournament has been the addition of Indian heavyweights Mohun Bagan and East Bengal. They will be seen in new avatars after their takeover by ATK and Shree Cement Limited respectively.
“They have history, fan followings. It will only help the ISL grow bigger. This is the only way football can get better,” said Ganguly.
