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What’s in a name, we often ask. Turns out, when the All India Football Federation (AIFF) — the nearly 90-year-old governing body of the sport — plans to change its name to Football Federation of Bharat (FFB), not only is it a question of a name, but also of timing and intent.

There could be many a slip between cup and lip, but the fact remains that the federation — its last special general meeting was held virtually on 20 June to discuss a number of key issues, including a roadmap for India's elite football league — resolved a change of name which will now be tabled before the concerned ministry.

This, at a time when the Indian Super League (ISL) is clearly staring at an uncertain future with no commercial partners — after barely managing a truncated 2025-26 edition — the senior national team has miserably failed to make the cut for the AFC Asian Cup 2027 and is currently 138th in FIFA rankings, and a spot in the World Cup remains a mirage.

It’s been a familiar lament every four years during the World Cup as to why India, with its 1.4 billion people, can't make even the third round of the mega tournament's Asian zone qualifiers, forget qualifying for the showpiece. This year, the frustration gathered more steam with the number of teams rising to 48, which also raised the Asian zone quota, while obscure dots on the globe like Curaçao (with a population of 165,000) and Cape Verde made it to the big stage.

Here’s what the AIFF press release said on the contentious issue: 'It was further resolved that a proposal be submitted to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) for renaming the All India Football Federation (AIFF) as the Football Federation of Bharat (FFB). It was also decided that the national anthem Jana Gana Mana and the national song Vande Mataram shall be played before the commencement of all football matches conducted under the aegis of AIFF.'

Referring to the proposal, AIFF president Kalyan Choubey said such a move needed several approvals starting with the sports ministry and going up to FIFA, but cited examples of countries like Turkiye and Czechia, whose football associations adopted updated national identities. Point taken, but the sense of priority seems warped, with this push for a more 'nationalist' identity seemingly designed to satisfy the powers that-be, while the governance of the sport pines for a major facelift.

Incidentally, this is not the first call to attach ‘Bharat’ to the identities of high-profile sports bodies of the country. Back in 2023, former Indian opener Virender Sehwag had urged the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) to identify the national team as Bharat instead of India. Sehwag’s argument was that the name ‘India’ has a colonial history, while ‘Bharat’ resonates more strongly with its native roots.

As of now, one has not heard any more of the idea. India, a superpower in the game, is usually referred to as 'Team India', while its roving group of fans is called the 'Bharat Army'. But who knows what the future holds.