TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: If the IMG-Reliance League is launched the way the AIFF has been speaking about in January, it could well mean the ultimate decimation of the clubs owned by passionate owners all these years as well scores of well established clubs which have been existing for the past 50 years or more, asserted Churchill Bros CEO Valanka Alemao, Saturday.
“We know that the All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) commercial and marketing partners, IMG-Reliance has been pumping in lot of money and feel it is not getting their returns. The company would do well to first analyse and pinpoint the flaws in the present League since they are the ones who have faltered after promising to make Indian football a golden product. One can lay part of the blame at their doorstep, since they never took all the stakeholders and especially the I-league clubs into confidence much more so when the AIFF top administrative set up was devoid of proper experience, acumen and exposure in football organization. It is also not correct that all its money is being spent on I-League,” pointed out Valanka. “And, in any case the AIFF would do well to specify how much money is being spent on the staff alone.”
“The IMG-R’s new thought process does not inspire confidence, there being no clarity on what and how they want to go about. It is devoid of inclusiveness and transparency. It claims it will launch its IPL-style league in January with the help of big corporates. It should make clear if there would be a third window period, which is non-existent as of now. Most importantly, they should provide answers to the continuity and appeal of the remainder of the I-League which will be an anti-climax after its league is over in March with great fanfare. Ultimately, it could spell doom for the present I-League clubs since most of the players would be idle during the IMG-R event,” explained the Churchill Bros honcho.
“All I-League clubs, be it my own Churchill Bros, Salgaocar, Sporting, Dempo and even Mohun Bagan and East Bengal and several others have invested a big fortune in Indian football all these years. Above all, it is the clubs who form the base of football development all over the world, with top nations like England, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal managing the premier leagues on thorough professional basis through a separate, independent entity. One expected the AIFF to display proper vision which has been sadly lacking all these years, or else teams like Mahindra, JCT and earlier, Tata, Mafatlal, Caltex would not have closed their shops. The ominous reading was there, very much on the wall, but the AIFF pretended it was always on the right track, giving an impression they were like horses with blinkers. As things stand, the forecast is rather gloomy, unless the I-League Professional Football Clubs Association (IPFCA) steps in and steers the ship to a safe destination,” averred Valanka, who added that one could not make an omelette without breaking an egg. “Sorry, but we can’t make Indian football the next spot-fixer. I don’t think the IMG-Reliance’s League should ever happen.”
“The IPL has been a runaway success in India because it attracts most of the world’s best talent to come and ply their trade in the tournament with the Bollywood backing it to the hilt. The IMG-R plans to rope in some retired footballers, of course, very big names in the years gone by, but no longer relevant in the present scenario. One wonders how such a thing would elevate India’s FIFA rankings,” commented the Varca-based official.
“Cricket and Bollywood work in India. Bollywood has the big money and glamour while cricket works because we play the World Cup. We have a strong National team with which people have grown with. You come to football and we are not even World Cup staff. We have no standing in Asia. Football in India has been sustained largely because of Goa, Kolkata, Kerala, Bangalore and Punjab clubs. If football has not developed in others States, one knows where the fault lies. What has happened to football in Hyderabad which produced several greats in the past? It is because the packaging of Indian football has not been good and thank God that after wiping football from Mumbai, it is now Pune that’s coming up,” remarked Valanka.
“With the clubs coming on board with the AIFF on the IMG-Reliance’s initiative it could eventually lead to their own demise. The bottom line is that corporates are going to come in and kick off the IMG-Reliance League. They will be so big that neither Churchill Brothers nor Mohun Bagan nor East Bengal perhaps would be able to compete in the future. It’s like slow death. All of us will have to kind of wind up. This is the way they are trying to move.”
“We don’t run a club to loan some six players. I run a club with about 50 players and now my entire purpose will be to loan just six players. From January to March it will be a different ball game but what happens thereafter? The remainder of the I-League will be a non-event, and that could spell doom for the local clubs eventually,” summed up Valanka.
