The Hindu : Sport / Football : Players should be paid well: Nayeemuddin

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Thursday, Sep 14, 2006
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Players should be paid well: Nayeemuddin

HYDERABAD : Dronacharya Syed Nayeemuddin deplored the performance of the Indian football team in the recent Asia Cup championship where it lost to Saudi Arabia 0-3 in Kolkata and 1-7 in Saudi Arabia.

"This was terribly disappointing. There is something wrong with the system itself. I don't believe that a foreign coach will change the fortunes of the team all of a sudden," he said.

He said even the format of the National Championship for Santosh Trophy should be changed to a National league wherein the top two teams from each zone should battle it out for top honours in the next league stage.

Short span

Nayeemuddin claims he was given only a very short span of time whereas the foreign coach is not only paid handsomely, but given a long tenure. "Still look at the results. We are now losing even to Nepal (coached by Shyam Thapa)," he said.

"There were quite a few who were working against me when I was at the helm even though I was slogging for the team's success."

Nayeemuddin also believed that all the money that was coming to the Indian football through sponsorship deal running into more than Rs. 200 crores for a 10-year tenure was not reaching the players.

"No Indian player is paid for representing the country. Only when they come back victorious they are given cash incentives. I insisted during my stint that the players should be paid well," he said. — Principal Correspondent

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