Khep football

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YEAR-WISE DEVELOPMENTS

As in 2024

Avik Das, April 15, 2024: The Times of India

Kolkata: “Khep football”, contests where players are hired for a particular game, has almost taken on bigleague colours in Bengal, scoring big bucks and boots. 
A recent tournament at a stadium in Canning, South 24-Parganas, had Rs 10 lakh as prize money for the winners. The runners-up received Rs 8 lakh. Among the other prizes were gold jewellery, LED TV, bikes, washing machines and refrigerators. Add to it prizes for spectators selected through lucky draws that ran into lakhs.


This was just one of the hundreds of neighbourhood tournaments that have turned “khep football” into a “multi-crore industry”. To place things in perspective, the prize money of Calcutta Premier League is Rs 15 lakh and Rs 10 lakh for the winners and the runners, respectively.


The jury is still out on whether “khep” is helpful or harmful to Indian football. But, on the ground, it’s raining money. And local as well as foreign players are making the most of it. Prominent local players, like Palash, Montai, Sankar Roy, Mahesh, Suraj and Priyant Singh, charge around Rs 15,000 per match and play at least five per week. By conservative estimates, a player takes home Rs 3 lakh a month or Rs 36 lakh annually.


The fee is higher for foreign recruits — between Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000 per match, which adds up to Rs 6 lakh a month or Rs 72 lakh annually. In comparison, those playing in the Calcutta League receive Rs 75,000-Rs 1 lakh a month. That, too, just for four months when the football season ison. 
Evidently, “khep” has become an alternative for one and all — a launchpad for young talents and a lucrative retirement plan for established players.


Hundreds of players from countries like Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria take part in these tournaments. They are in India on student or tourist visas. 


According to Nabab Bhattacharya, a veteran sports administrator, “khep” is the worst thing to have happened to Indian football. “Forcing players to participate in seven matches a week can’t produce good footballers. There should be someregulation,”he said.