| Women's football in India | |
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| Country | India |
| Governing body | All India Football Federation |
| National teams | Women's national team India U-20 Women's India U-17 Women's India Futsal Women's |
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Women's football in India is growing in popularity underAll India Football Federation, despite the earlier long-term governing body's inability to provide sufficient funds for the game.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
In September 1926, the reportedly first women's football match in India was organised inBurma (then province ofBritish Raj) to raise funds for a charityAkyab Relief Fund.[7] The first instance of women's football in the British Indian provinces occurred inBengal in the late 1920s. Brajaranjan Ray attempted to start an annual women's football tournament for under the aegis of the Women's Sports Association in 1929. He faced severe opposition from the society, but was successful in starting a tournament for the girls' college of the city of Calcutta. A handful of colleges such as theVictoria Institution,Asutosh College andBethune College went on to participate in the tournament.[8]
In independent India, a women's football match took place on 14 November 1955 at the National Sports Stadium inNew Delhi, which was reported as the first "all-India women's football match". The match took place between Blues and Maroons with the Blues winning the match by 3–2. The match was attended by 1000 spectators.[9]
Women's football has not had the relative advantage in the sport unlike the men's game, and also has not become as prevalent in the country as its male counterpart. The game was administered by theWomen's Football Federation of India (WFFI) from 1975 until the early 1990s, when they were absorbed into the AIFF. However, there were complaints that women's football is treated as a poor relation to the men's game, leading to (unfulfilled) plans to de-merge the WFFI.[10][11]
The women's game also has its early pioneers in the state of West Bengal. The large Kolkata teams, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, started women's club sides in the 2000–01 season, and they participated with other teams in theCalcutta Women's Football League. However, it has been seen recently that players from Odisha and Manipur have made advances in the game. Players from these two states make up a large part of the India women's national football team. In 2000, two Indian internationalSujata Kar and Alpana Seal went on to attend trial abroad for the first time, with GermanFrauen-Regionalliga Südwest clubTSV Crailsheim Women, but the transfers fall through due to not getting work permit.[12]
The women's national competition is played on a state vs. state basis in the India women's football championship.[13] There are also similar national championships for junior teams like the Junior Girls National Championship (for under 19s) and the Under-17 Girls National Championship.
Some female players have become internationally recognised. Among them are Chitra Gangadharan who was selected to play for the All Asian Star team. Jaanki Kotecha was selected as captain to the All Asian Star Team in 2008–2009, where she led her team to victory. In February 2000,Sujata Kar and Alpana Sil became the first Indian footballers to sign a contract outside India. They signed with the German teamTSV Crailsheim, but had to return after a month due to problems with the clearance of their international transfer.
Until 1983, women's football took part in international tournaments like theAFC Women's Asian Cup. For example, the team won silver in 1980 at Calicut. In later years it had become poor in status just like its male counterpart. During the2003 AFC Women's Championship, the Indian team were embarrassed by a 12–0 defeat toChina.[14]
The poor support of the national team by the AIFF became evident, when the team's trip to Germany was only made possible byNon Resident Indians in the country, and by the support of theGerman Football Association. Furthermore, championships are held in remote locations, and national media coverage is said to be restricted to state and local newspapers.[11]
The women's game reached a new low in June 2009 whenFIFA delisted the side from itsworld rankings for being out of action for more than 18 months.[15] This comes at a time when the game was gaining in popularity amongst the younger generation as evident by the local leagues conducted around the country. The concluded Mumbai Women's Football League 2009–10 organised by the (MDFA) was a major success and featured many talented players who had played for the national team. Furthermore, the popularity of the event gave hope that the women's game could rise in India.[16][17] The India women's national football team, organised by theAll India Football Federation, was revived after being dormant for several years.[18]
One of the barriers to the sport growing is that many women experience prejudice for playing the sport.[19][20][21]
On 17 December 2014, general secretary of theAll India Football Federation, Kushal Das, gave a presentation on the future of women's football in India during a meeting with FIFA.[22] During his presentation, Das stated that the goal for women's football from 2014 to 2017 was to increase the ranking of the national team overall and in Asia, start a professional women's league and qualify for youth AFC championships.[22]
Over the years theIndian Women's Football Championship has been the major championship among state teams.
On 21 April 2016, over a year after the AIFF started plans for awomen's football league, the AIFF President,Praful Patel, said that a women's football league would kick off in October 2016 with six teams to be decided, with the goal to expand to eight teams by 2017.[23] Just over two months later, on 5 July 2016, the AIFF organized a workshop to discuss theIndia women's national team and discuss the proposed women's football league. Five Indian Super League sides (Delhi Dynamos,Chennaiyin FC,Kerala Blasters,FC Pune City,Atletico de Kolkata) and three I-League teams (Bengaluru FC,Aizawl FC,Mumbai FC) attended the workshop. It was announced that the league would feature the eight teams in the league and two other spots would be determined through a pre-qualification round.[24]
On 14 October, the AIFF announced that the preliminary rounds for theIndian Women's League would begin on 17 October 2016 in which ten teams are split into two groups of five teams each, with the winner from each group qualifying for the national finals.[25]
12 clubs participated for the4th season of Indian Women's League. State women's leagues organized by variousstate federations acted as the qualifier this season. In addition to these, the Rest of India zone champions has been awarded a place in thefinal round.[26]Gokulam Kerala defeated FC Alakhpura 9–1 over two legs to secure a place in the Group stage.
The women's football league system in India currently consists of 1 top tier national league i.eIndian Women's League, organised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). From tier 2 are the State football leagues, organised by regional state associations under AIFF affiliation, in Indian league tier pyramid.
| Level | National leagues | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 1 | Indian Women's League 8 clubs – ↓ 2 relegations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Indian Women's League 2 15 clubs – 2 promotions ↑↓ 9 relegations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| State leagues | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| State level | Karnataka | Maharastra | West Bengal | Delhi | Meghalaya | Tamil Nadu | Assam | Goa | Manipur | Odisha | Jharkhand | Punjab | Sikkim | Mizoram | Arunachal Pradesh | Bihar | Chhattisgarh | Gujarat | Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Kerala | Madhya Pradesh | Puducherry | Tripura | |||
| 3 | 1 | Karnataka Women's Super Division ↑promote↓relegate | Maharashtra State Senior Women's Football League ↑promote | CWFL Premier Division A ↑promote↓relegate | Delhi Women's Premier League ↑promote↓relegate | Meghalaya Women's State League ↑promote | Tamil Nadu Women's League ↑promote | Assam Women's League ↑promote | Goa Women's League ↑promote | Manipur Women's League ↑promote | Odisha Women's League ↑promote | JSA Women's League ↑promote | Punjab Women's League ↑promote | Sikkim Women's Super League ↑promote | Mizoram Women's League ↑promote | Arunachal Women's League ↑promote | Bihar State Women's League ↑promote | Chhattisgarh State Women's Football League ↑promote | Gujarat State Women's League ↑promote | Haryana Women's Football League ↑promote | Himachal Women's League ↑promote | Kerala Women's League ↑promote | Madhya Pradesh Women's Premier League ↑promote | Pondicherry Women's League ↑promote | Tripura Women's Football League ↑promote | ||
| 4 | 2 | Karnataka Women's A Division | MFA Women's Premier League | PDFA Women's League | Kolhapur Women's League | CWFL Premier Division B | Delhi Women's Championship | SSA Women's Football League | 1 division | ||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | 3 | Karnataka Women's B Division | MFA Women's Super League | 2 divisions | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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