Anant Bakhale
anant@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Goa, the hub of “The Beautiful Game”, got a jolt after the Delhi High Court vacated a stay on the All India Football Federation (AIFF) elections wherein no Goan was represented in the executive committee.
The elections of the office bearers for 2017-20 term were under a cloud after the Delhi High Court had passed a stay order over the irregularities in the election process by the AIFF.
With no Goan in the AIFF executive panel and with three big clubs – Dempo SC, Salgaocar FC and Sporting Clube de Goa – opting to stay out of the upcoming I-League it looks like the local players are not likely to get an exposure they enjoyed at the national level, which may hamper their growth in the near future.
Even though Goa organises around 1,000 official tournaments, which are the highest compared to other States, the local talent will not be exposed and will not get an opportunity to show their skills at the national and international levels as the players are selected by the coaches on the basis of their performance at the I-League and other national tournaments.
Salgaocar Football Club President Shivanand Salgaocar informed that the reasons why the teams have withdrawn are well documented as none of the teams wanted to play in the Second Division.
Salgaocar agreed that the withdrawal of the teams will affect the players not only from Goa by also other States but also felt that if a player is talented he can join any team.
“If you see there were locals as well as players from the other States in these three teams. Withdrawals will definitely affect these players,” he said but also felt that if there is talent it cannot be stopped from exposure.
“If a player is talented he can join any team like the way Mandar Rao Dessai was absorbed by Bengaluru FC,” he added.
He felt the AIFF election will not affect Goan players because “talent flows wherever it demands”.
“Not being in the executive committee will not affect the Goan players but it will affect the communication process and the benefits that Goa would get if there was a representative in the AIFF,” Salgaocar mentioned.
Dempo Sport Club President Srinivas Dempo highlighted that there may be some impact on the local players on employment after the sudden withdrawal of the three teams from the I-league but will gradually return to normal in the long run.
“With the three teams – Dempo SC, Salgaocar FC and Sporting Clube de Goa — pledging to continue the youth development programme, I hope that in the long run there will not be much effect on the talented Goan players. If we produce good players they can be absorbed across the country.”
“Churchill Brothers are taking two or three Dempo players for the I-League and the players are also selected for FC Goa in the Indian Super League. If Dempo SC, Salgaocar FC and Sporting Clube de Goa in the long run continue to produce good players at the local level my hope is that these players will find some employment not only with FC Goa or Churchill Bros but they could also go to other teams.”
Dempo said, “It is very sad that Goa did not get any representation at the AIFF executive committee after so many years.”
“Goa is one of the leading States in football and it is sad that there is no Goa representation. Goa comes under the Western Zone which is represented by Rajasthan and it is the responsibility of the representative to take up Goa’s issue.”
“We have to raise our issues with the new incumbent and hopefully it will get carried,” he said.
Over the court verdict on AIFF elections, Dempo has this to say, “It’s a judiciary body and I always respect the court’s decision.”
Arjuna Awardee Brahmanand Sankhwalkar was of the opinion that with only a single Goan team in the I-League it will affect the young budding players and will take a lot of time to expose themselves as compared to earlier days.
“Many Goan players will not get the opportunity to expose themselves due to the withdrawal of the three teams from the I-League. There are many promising young footballers just taking step into some bright areas of the game. This budding talent will take a lot of time to come to that level,” he added.
Brahmanand said that Goan being in the executive committee of AIFF or not, is not the issue but the election had to be conducted under proper rules and regulation of the sports code.
“The AIFF had to follow proper rules and regulation as per the sports code while holding the elections. Goa’s representation in the executive committee is not the issue but the election process had to be clean and fair,” he added.
Brahmanand felt that there should be a league system and the teams should be only promoted and not demoted for the first three years.
“When the league is competitive and the two top teams are upgraded than there is a competition. The top two teams from the I-league have to be promoted to Indian Super League by increasing the number of teams in the ISL. This should be done for the first three years with no team being demoted,” he opined.
“The ISL should gradually increase the number of teams ever year without any demotions for around three years which will bring the number to 14. Thereafter, the bottom two teams can be demoted. This would be a healthy competition,” he suggested.
