The Hindu : Sport / Football : Many questions crop up on the eve of Santosh Trophy

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Thursday, Sep 14, 2006
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Many questions crop up on the eve of Santosh Trophy

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI : If the stars are reluctant to play blame the administration. The All India Football Federation and some of its affiliates have reduced the National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy to an insipid competition.

Gurgaon and Faridabad prepare to host this year's edition of the Santosh Trophy with almost all teams without many top players in the first stage for various reasons.

Ask Prasanta Banerjee, who represented Bengal on 15 occasions in the Santosh Trophy and ended up celebrating the title victory ten times.

He arrived in the Capital quietly with a near third-string team that lacks the combination to make an impact.

A timid Bengal in Santosh Trophy should give an insight into the state of affairs.

The Indian Football Association Secretary Subrata Dutta was livid at the AIFF making a mockery of the national championship. "How can the AIFF schedule such a prestigious tournament in the middle of three big local leagues. There is no imagination involved and I am sorry to say that this competition will not be a true reflection of the quality of Indian football," said a dejected Dutta from Kolkata.

War of words

Reluctant players and an obstinate administration have resulted in the bitter war of words between the AIFF and two of its influential units, Bengal and Goa, being stretched to an extent where the championship gets relegated in terms of quality participation.

The Goa Football Association Secretary Savia Messias pleaded for "sanity" when it comes to dealing with players who want to give their best.

"The scheduling of the Santosh Trophy makes little sense. It has disturbed the local league in Goa, Kolkata and Mumbai. It means the clubs suffer because they release players for the national championship and national camps and in turn the sponsors too get distanced. Who would invest money in a local league that loses top players to a national championship which incredibly lasts 45 days."

The sons of soil policy, allowing a state to demand a player on the eve of the tournament, has proved to be the most damaging factor for associations conducting a highly competitive league.

"One Baichung Bhutia going to Sikkim and one Jatin Bisht going to Uttar Pradesh under the sons of the soil policy will not help the state. Will the same state take care of the concerned player if he gets injured during the Santosh Trophy. Here, the AIFF should protect the interests of the clubs. It is the club which spots and grooms a player and it is not fair to deprive the same club of the same player during the league," stressed Dutta.

Goa is the defending champion, and along with Maharashtra, Punjab and Kerala, has been seeded into the quarterfinal league. It allows these four teams, noted for their consistency, the cushion of availing their key players in the second stage. A team can make six changes in the second stage.

Bengal kicks off the tournament with its match against Rajasthan at Faridabad at 8.30 a.m. on Thursday.

The formal opening ceremony at Gurgaon will involve a rather insignificant contest between Haryana and Pondicherry.

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