PANJIM: The Goan clubs, namely Sporting Clube de Goa and Salgaocar Football Club came down heavily on All India Football Federation President Praful Patel saying that the allegations made by the president are totally false and that he is not fit to run the federation.
Praful had, on Tuesday, taken a veiled dig at the Goan clubs for not having the required ‘bandwidth’ to continue in the revamped top tier I-League as they are ‘not investing’ in football while providing excuses.
Sporting Clube de Goa President Peter Vaz said, “The Goan clubs had all the criteria to qualify even when the initial entry for the I-League was Rs 100 crore but now the AIFF has dropped it to Rs 1 crore.”
“I don’t understand what ‘bandwidth’ means according to Praful. If he means that we don’t have the necessary requirements to participate in the I-League then I would like to make it clear that the initial entry to participate in the league was dropped from Rs 100 crore to 1 crore,” he added.
“This shows that any level clubs can join the I-League and that the Goan clubs have high standard and are overgrown with youth grassroot development programme”.
He further stated, “Leaving aside Mohun Bagan and East Bengal there are no other experienced clubs in the league at present.”
Vaz felt that Praful is totally unfit to run the Federation and urged him not to mix politics with football.
“Praful should realize that football is not a game of politics. It is a ball game. He is totally unfit to run the Federation. Wherever Praful has been associated with that particular association or industry has not been successful,” he alleged.
“Praful is an ignorant person and his statement has no value. He doesn’t know what is important for AIFF and he keeps on changing his statement every year.”
“Earlier Praful had said that I-league was important and later changed his view saying that the league has to be merged with ISL,” he added.
Earlier, Dempo Sports Club, Salgaocar Football Club and Sporting Clube de Goa had pulled out from the I-League in protest against AIFF’s proposed roadmap to restructure domestic football.
All the three club owners — Shivanand Salgaocar, Peter Vaz and Shrinivas Dempo — had taken a united stand on June 24, 2016 to oppose the restructuring that makes Indian Super League (ISL) a top-tier league and relegates I-League to the Second Division or ‘League One’ as it will be called.
Salgaocar Football Club President Shivanand Salgaocar felt that the AIFF has no vision and the federation keeps on changing its track.
“AIFF has no clarity and vision. They keep on changing track and then blame others for the same. They change their plans and expect others to dance to their tunes,” he said.
Shivanand questioned the depth and standard of the I-League.
“Top players like Arata Izumi and Thangjam Saran Singh are playing in the Second Division. It just shows the depth of I-League. After the withdrawal of Goan teams the standard of the league has dropped very much,” he said.
Salgaocar blasted the federation saying the club cannot dance on the AIFF tunes.
“As far as Salgaocar FC is concerned I will do what I feel is right. The AIFF changes its statement every other day. One day they say I-League is supreme while other day they say that the I-League and ISL should be merged. The club cannot dance on AIFF tunes,” he said.
Shivanand questioned as to how I-League or ISL matches will be played when the Under-17 World Cup begins.
“When the Under-17 World Cup begins it will be difficult to play the I-League or ISL matches as all the grounds will be booked for the same,” he concluded.
Dempo Sports Club President Srinivas Dempo said the reason behind club’s withdrawal from I-League was that there was no proper revenue model in peak.
“The reason why Goan teams have stopped continuing in the I-League is that the clubs did not find the proper revenue model in peak. It is only for the love of the game and Goa that the Goan clubs have continued for the last five decades,” he said.
“There is limit as to how much one should go on spending. The expenditure was going up, every year the clubs were not finding revenue to that extent. This is the reason why the clubs opted out of the I-League.”
Owners feel it is not only the clubs but also the football fans that need to react to the ‘false’ statement made by Praful against the Goan clubs.
With the explanations given by the owners of the Goan clubs it appears that the AIFF is just trying to find an excuse to cover their mistakes. It is now clear (after the statements of the owners) that the Goan clubs have done much more than expected from them for The Beautiful Game and for their fans.
The AIFF needs to make statements against the State clubs with proper facts. Goa has seen, played and administered football right from the days the Portuguese ruled the tiny State for over 450 years. The federation needs to be run by experts who understand and know the game well, not only on the field, but also the administration of the world’s most populous game, off the field.
