The Hindu : Sport / Football : `Grab the opportunity to save the game in India'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 22, 2005

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Sport - Football

`Grab the opportunity to save the game in India'

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Reiterating his past observations regarding the state of Indian football, the Asian Football Confederation secretary general Peter Velappan sounded a warning to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to improve its image in its own interest. "This is the last chance for India (to make the most of the opportunities). If the AIFF doesn't grab the opportunity now, then god save Indian football," said Mr. Velappan here on Thursday.

In Delhi to attend the workshop on Vision India, Mr. Velappan met officials from Delhi and Manipur — two states identified for the pilot project aimed at popularising and taking the game to the masses in every sense.

"This is an ongoing process to launch Vision India," he noted, having made two visits earlier to assess the ground realities of football in India.

Task force

Having formed a task force comprising representatives from the government, the Sports Authority of India and the respective state associations, Mr. Velappan appeared keen on launching the project. "Let me confess there is tremendous talent in India and the scope for progress is enormous.

Only the efforts have to be channelised in a professional direction. Once that is achieved I'm sure Indian football will take off and will emerge as a strong force in the international arena," claimed Mr. Velappan.

To the benefit of young players

Giving details of the project, Mr. Velappan informed the most encouraging development had been the offer from Delhi University to provide its infrastructure for the benefit of young footballers. "On our last visit we found only seven playing fields.

We will soon identify the fields for competitions and thank the university's gesture in this direction," said Mr. Velappan.

Professional

Mr. Velappan stressed on the need for clubs to become professional in true sense. "Indian football is in a transition stage. The focus has to be on professionalism. The players, clubs and management have to understand their roles and perform them professionally.

India has a rich football culture. The talent is in abundance and needs to be polished and marketed. Asia is a football goldmine and we need to exploit the talent in the next ten years. The challenges in India are many with difficult logistics and such diversity in climate and culture. But we're confident," he said.

Mr. Velappan wanted an honest effort from everyone connected with the project. "The training programme for coaches, referees and administrators will begin in September.

The league in Delhi and Manipur will start with the next season and we'll have tailor-made programmes to suit the respective needs of these two states. The season will last six to eight months and to achieve that we'll synchronize the calendar. We don't want the big events to disrupt the state leagues," Mr. Velappan assured.

The AFC will soon begin the training process for the administrators. "No more voluntary work. They will all be paid for their services. In return we expect the clubs to ensure good management and strong leadership.

Success will help you rope in sponsors. It is all linked to success these days. It is a fact of life and the football fraternity in India will do well to understand this aspect quickly in its own interest. I expect things to look up," Mr. Velappan signed off on a positive note.

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