They say any publicity is good publicity, and for Indian football they have been getting more than their fair share lately with the announcement of the new Premier Soccer League (PSL), to be headlined by ageing stars such as Robbie Fowler, Robert Pires and Hernan Crespo.

In terms of promoting the game within and outside of India, it is a fantastic marketing tool, but long term will it have any significant impact on the Indian football landscape? I doubt it.

What India needs more than anything is serious investment in the grassroots, investment in coaching and development, investment in infrastructure – not spending that money to line the pockets of already mega rich players.

Early last year just after the AFC Asian Cup, then national team coach Bob Houghton lamented the fact that there was no football infrastructure inside India.

“You are talking about a country that has zero football infrastructure. We have, I think, one stadium in the whole of the country that meets the criteria to host a World Cup qualifier and that’s in Chennai, where there is no football and it’s an athletics stadium,” Houghton said.

“We have no training facilities — and I mean that — which is why when we get the national team together we have to go outside the country to find somewhere to train. If you have no infrastructure then it’s almost impossible to organise a league because there are no grounds to play the matches.

“Our matches kick off at 3 o’ clock in the afternoon and are played on surfaces that no self—respecting top player would play on and in 35 degrees of heat at least. Therefore, the games are very slow and maybe players run three or four kms compared with the 10 or 11 you’ve got to do when you come to Asian Cup,” Houghton told the official AFC website.

“The AFC President (at the time Mohammed bin Hammam) came to India three years ago and said India is 100 years behind and then he came last year and said nothing has changed. I don’t know how long or how many times people have got to say that to get the authorities to come to grips with it but it’s not being done,” he said.

It is a dire situation and not one that can be resolved overnight, it is one that will require significant time and investment from both the football authorities and the people of India.

Leading the charge to develop football in India is a name familiar to fans of Football in Australia – Rob Baan.

Baan was recently appointed Technical Director for the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and in a recent interview with respected Indian football reporter, Arunava Chaudhuri, made mention of the need to start developing the youth development systems in India.

“We will start with establishing of the Regional Academies (for age-group 14 to 16) and Elite Centers (for age-group 16-18) where we can bring the best talents together,” he said.

“The focus is now on Youth Development. Within the next 10 years, boys from the age-group of 8-12 will take India to a level where India will be able to compete against Australia, Korea or Japan.”

It’s a bold and ambitious vision, and one that requires significant investment if it is to reap the rewards that they so desire, which is why I can’t help but feel the money spent at the top end of the game could be better spent at the grassroots where it will have the greatest impact.

Let’s be honest, the players coming to play in the PSL are well past their prime. Robbie Fowler, for example, has enjoyed a less that spectacular time at Muang Thong United in Thailand to the point where fans were actually hoping he would leave the club, which he has now done.

And the best Indian football talent will not be on display, with rules preventing those who play in the domestic I-League from participating in the tournament. So you’re left with ageing stars and young, raw talent playing games on pitches not fit for the I-League, which are hardly at a high level as it is, and this is supposed to benefit Indian football?

The Chinese are hardly the world leaders when it comes to football, but early last year when investment flowed into the game from the Wanda Real Estate Group it did so on the proviso  it was spent on the area it was most needed - grassroots development.

It might not be sexy, it might not capture the headlines but in time it will have a greater legacy than football’s version of the IPL.