I was 19 when I was told I could never play football again. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Two big words. For me, they were like a death sentence. Imagine being a teenager who’s told that you can no longer do what you love most.
I couldn’t accept it. Though contracts I signed kept getting torn up or annulled on health grounds, I kept trying. Finally, the courts ruled in my favour. But you only have to see the numbers to know how much it cost me. I’m 24 now. Erling Haaland is a month older. He has already played 303 games for his clubs, and 35 times for his country, Norway. I have just 87 club matches to my name, and 23 internationals.
Now, many are writing and talking about me as though I’m a criminal. I’m no lawyer, but I still don’t understand how things got here. Before the 2022-23 season, FIFA changed the rules so that multiple-year loans were no longer allowed. The two-year loans Juventus used to bring in Federico Chiesa and Manuel Locatelli were cited as a reason. The new rule clearly stated that loans could be at most for one year. After that, the clubs had to come to a fresh agreement.
By the time that rule came in, I was partway through an 18-month loan with FC Goa. After that, a four-year loan deal with Mohun Bagan. Four years. The prime years of my career. I don’t need to tell you how fragile a footballer’s career can be. Lives can change in a second, with one bad tackle or a terrible ligament tear. And then there’s my heart.
AIFF restores 2 August status quo.
Now what? @RevSportzGlobal
So what is Anwar’s status at the moment? pic.twitter.com/kbv4SR7Lvn
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) September 17, 2024
The world over, the player and the parent club have control over his or her destiny. Loans can be cut short at the end of a window if either club or player is unhappy with the prevailing arrangement. The project that East Bengal offered me last summer was something that appealed. It also guaranteed me a degree of financial security for the future.
In December 2025, it will be 30 years since the European Court of Justice ruled in favour of Jean-Marc Bosman, and against the club who wouldn’t let him leave even after the end of his contract. That ruling was supposed to be the end of an era when footballers were glorified slaves. Let me reiterate that I was on loan to Mohun Bagan. I was never their player. That they can now prevent me from playing for a club of my choice makes a mockery of the Bosman ruling and FIFA’s rules.
Right now, instead of playing the first few matches of the Indian Super League (ISL) season, I’m compelled to watch committees and courts decide my fate. Some of these people are so bothered about what happens to me that they want to hold a hearing while driving through traffic. And I’m painted as the villain.
I want to play. I need to. It’s the only life I know. I know these are not great times for Indian football, but with a new coach and a new direction, I believe we can get things back on track. I want to be central to that. For that, I have to play. I can’t be in courtrooms or in front of tribunals. I need to be on the training ground and then on the pitch.
I hope sense prevails, and that happens.
Yours sincerely,
Anwar Ali