Players from Services and Punjab flew from Delhi to Mumbai, then to Riyadh, where they were greeted by a ‘Winter in Saudi’ placard at the airport on a day when the temperature reached 30 degrees Celsius. For most, it was their first time playing outside of India.
For some, the tournament was exactly what it said it was: a chance to get back to where they thought they deserved to be. Karthik Govind Swamy thought he was established enough as a footballer after Chennai City FC won the I-League in the 2018/19 season to play in the Indian Super League.
Swamy, now 28, plays for Sporting Club Bengaluru in the Karnataka state league but hopes to impress the powers that be in Riyadh. The effort to rebrand the tournament by hosting it in Saudi Arabia is based on exposure – a word that has been used frequently when questions have arisen about why the tournament
Which drew 26,000 fans to Malappuram last year to watch Kerala play Bengal, is being held outside India. It is argued that talented players are left behind because opportunities to demonstrate their abilities no longer exist.
The AIFF recently backed out of a bid for the 2027 Asian Cup, citing the high cost of hosting such a large tournament. The decision was based on sound logic, as India has only recently progressed to the point where they are regularly qualifying for Asia’s largest international tournament.
The Santosh Trophy will be played on foreign soil four times over the next four days. And, as has been the case with many recent AIFF decisions, the true results of this experiment will be revealed much later.
