TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Fourteen officials from four Goan I-League clubs participated in the one-day I-League workshop 2013 organised by All India Football Federation (AIFF) at Football House, New Delhi on Friday. It was attended by 48 representatives from all the I-League Clubs.
The workshop was designed for team managers, youth development managers, media officers and match-day operations officer, the Goans being Mathew D’Costa – head youth development, Jonathan de Souza – team manager, Abhijit Patil – media manager (Dempo), Aldrid da Costa – media manager, Norbert Gonsalves – asst coach, Victor Fernandes – CEO, Edward Noronha – match day in-charge (Sporting Clube de Goa), Nikhil Alvares – media manager, Elaine Colaco – head youth dvelopment, Sanjiv Nagvenkar – team manager, Nicholas Falcao – administrative manager (Salgaocar Football Club) and Watson Fernandes – media and marketing manager, Danzie Ferrao – team manager, Frazer Alemao – general manager (Churchill Bros).
A five-member team from Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Special Mission Team (SMT) led by AFC Research and Support Services Head Steve Kim threw light on match operations and competitions, and youth development. The other members were Benjamin Tan Tiong Meng (match operations), Ong Chong Heng, Jose Marcelino Zalazar Carpio (youth development) and Mahajan Vasudevan, (club licensing and legal affairs).
The other topics discussed during the seven-hour workshop included refereeing matters and laws of the game, kit regulations, pre-match day and match day media operations, stadia safety.
AIFF’s general secretary stressed the need to come forward and work together in creating a better product. “The value of the I-League should go up and we should work for the cause in unison,” he added.
Jose Marcelino, a former goalkeeper, said: “The best way to predict the future is by helping to create it. Youth development is the most essential part of football. A club with a strong youth development programme can earn revenue by attracting other clubs to invest on their products.”
