Indian summer...and winter

This was reported by Sport Business ealrier on today: "The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has made a request to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to help fund India’s national football team, according to media reports. The Kolkata-based Telegraph reported that the BCCI could give a $2 million grant to the AIFF’s "Goal 2011" project - where top 25 players will be taken away from club duties for nine months - to build the national team for the 2011 Asian Cup finals in Qatar." This is an interesting initiative, especially in a country where cricket rules and football, although popular, is definitely the junior partner in the relationship. Is such an initiative (or is it a strategy) the way forward for smaller, less popular sports to gain strength and vibrancy? Is this kind of 'piggy-backing' and appropriate strategy? What are the respective advantages and disadvantages? Could it be viewed as a form of cross-subsidisation, in which case, again, is this the right way to promote sport? Or, is it a a form strategic collaboration, in which case what are some of the pertinent issues in managing such a relationship? Could it be seen as an Indian macro-level equivalent of a Spanish polideportivo, in which case what is the national strategy underpinning the link between football and cricket? From the perspective of national sporting soldarity, could it be that the proposed cricket/football link will ultimately yield a number of important lessons for other countries seeking to create an integrated sporting model or national sporting strategy?