Football is a rage in Malappurram

It's rather easy to spot a football pundit in Malappuram because almost everyone you bump into in the small north Kerala district has the game and its stars at his fingertips. Unlike other parts of India where cricket stars smile at you from gigantic hoardings, advertising a variety of products, Malappuram has a lot of billboards in which Ronaldinhos, Messis, Ballacks and Henrys are kicking a ball. Shops selling sports goods have invariably football jerseys of Brazil, Argentina, France and England hanging outside. The Men in Blue who are omnipresent elsewhere in India are conspicuous by their absence in busy market streets of Malappuram and its adjacent towns.
A time-worn joke in the region goes like this: "Delivery complications are easy to solve in the Malappuram district. Keep a football in the maternity ward, the baby will come out without a hitch." U. Sharaf Ali, former Indian captain, says football is an inseparable part of Malappuram. "Nowhere in the country can you find thousands of people thronging grounds for local football matches," he says.
Moideen Kutty was the first from this region to play for India. A succession of players - Sharaf and C. Jabir - kept the Malappuram flag flying in the following years.
European leagues are avidly followed in the district with even children familiar with the players and fortunes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United. A reporter with a popular Malayalam daily says his office receives a number of calls during weekends for the latest football results. "We also have a balancing act to do in our sports monthly. If our cover is on a cricketer, our poster has to be a footballer and vice versa. If we have a cover as well as a poster on a cricketer, we are inundated with angry calls protesting the sidelining of football. We also have to cover Santosh Trophy extensively," he adds.
Saabber, a fourth year M.B.B.S student, says following football is a natural phenomenon in Malappuram. "In many cases, it's like a family tradition. The football World Cup was a big festival here. During those 30 days there were hundreds of vinyl hoardings in and around Malappuram. Theatres rake in the money screening football matches live. Muslim clerics and conservative families too encourage football. Imams themselves don't mind watching football matches. They only scoff at the Muslim youth throwing money at cutouts and processions during the World Cup," he adds.
The large Malappuram population living in the Gulf too keep their interest in the game going by forming football communities.