Imkong Walling
In June 2018, the foundation stone for a regional football academy, named after Naga football great Dr T Ao, was set in Seithekima C, Chümoukedima. It was a time when the 100-day development pledge of a newly installed PDA government was in effect.
According to the Chief Minister, the 46-acre project was the fruition of a plan that had sat idle for nearly a decade. If all went according to plan, it was to be completed in the shortest possible time. No deadline was provided, however.
Projected to cost an estimated Rs 100 crore, the initial works were supposed to start with a Rs 13 crore grant from the North Eastern Council (NEC). The Tata Trust had also reportedly promised aid. Eight years on, there is no word on the status of the academy.
At that very same 2018 event, the Chief Minister promised governmental assistance to revive the Nagaland Premier League (NPL), an ambitious private venture that folded after just two seasons in 2012 and 2013 for a lack of funding.
The government made good on that count. In partnership with the Nagaland Football Association (NFA), the league was repackaged as the Nagaland Super League (NSL) in the first quarter of 2025. It was a crowd-puller and apparently set for the long haul.
In May 2025, buoyed by an unprecedented public response, the NFA President announced season two with a tentative December 2025-January 2026 date, while an NSL Governing Body member promised a “bigger and better” edition. The buzz was to establish and enhance brand visibility.
Eighteen months on, NSL 2 is nowhere in sight.
Public appetite does remain undimimished as witnessed in the recently concluded Dr T Ao Inter-District Championship in Mokokchung. The arena in Ungma was packed to capacity, with fans perched precariously on trees and rooftops just to catch a glimpse of the action. It was a mirror image of the scenes at the Chümoukedima Football Stadium during NSL 1.
While such sights are romanticised as proof of the raw passion for the game, the flipside is far less flattering. It exposes the inadequacy of basic sporting infrastructure to accommodate the crowds the state seems to be courting.
The Rio dispensation’s sports pursuit since 2003 is not without merit. It has served to keep sports enthusiasts engaged.
But take a moment to zoom out and have a wider view. Sporadic sporting spectacles offer a convenient distraction from the general air of discontent perceptible everywhere, except to a few tied to the ruling elite. It has only served to project an impression of success, giving the people something to cheer about, while the state stagnates in core growth indicators.
Football, and any sport, demands more than hosting colour-saturated, made-for-tv competitions, or finding short-cuts into the top leagues.
Meanwhile, the new sports policy promised in 2018 within 100 days has remained in a perennial state of formulation.
The writer is a Principal Correspondent at The Morung Express. Comments can be sent to [email protected]
