Football
Football was introduced to India during the British colonial period. Although India has never been represented in any FIFA World Cup, it did qualify in 1950, though it did not take part, as they were not allowed to play barefoot. India was an Asian powerhouse in football in the 1950s and 1960s. During this golden era, India created history as the first Asian team to reach semi-finals in an Olympic football tournament in 1956 Summer Olympics at Melbourne and Neville D'Souza became the first Asian and Indian to score a hat-trick (record remains unbeaten) in an Olympic match. India also finished as runners-up in the 1964 AFC Asian Cup. But later on, the standard of football started to decline due to lack of professionalism and fitness culture. India currently ranks 97th in the FIFA rankings as of 10 August 2017.
Football is, nevertheless, widely popular both as a spectator sport, and as a participation sport in some parts of the country such as Kerala, West Bengal, Goa and the Northeast. The India national football team represents India in all FIFA tournaments. The Yuva Bharati Krirangan of Kolkata was the second largest non-auto racing stadium in the world.In June 1937, at the Army Headquarters, Shimla, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) was formed at a meeting of the representatives of football associations of six regions where the game was very popular in those days.
It is the governing body for football in India. Domestic competitions for men's football include the Indian Super League, I-League, I-League 2nd Division in the Indian League System and the annual knock-out style Federation Cup. For women's football the India women's football championship. However, it is European football, such as the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, and the UEFA Champions League, which are very popular among Indian football fans, especially in metropolitan cities.The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup will be the 17th tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
FIFA revealed on 5 December 2013 (as part of their Executive
Committee meets in Salvador, Brazil), that India will be the host. This will be
the first time India will host an international football competition at world
level. To help increase interest in youth football in advance of the 2017 U-17
World Cup, India has launched the Mission XI Million programme.