International - India & World   

BCCI to send coach to Brazil

Rio de Janeiro: India will soon send a cricket coach to Brazil, although its own attempts to find a soccer trainer from that country had not borne results yet.

“We haven’t found a football coach for India yet, but the Board of Control for Cricket in India has agreed to send a coach to train youngsters here,” India’s Ambassador to Brazil Hardeep Singh Puri told journalists accompanying President Pratibha Patil here.

The President, who is on a two-week visit to Brazil, Mexico and Chile, and the accompanying Indian delegation reached here on Tuesday.

India and Brazil signed an agreement in 2006 on cooperation in sports. Brazil, which wants the status of a cricket playing nation, became a member of the International Cricket Council in 2002.

During his visit to Brazil in 2006, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took up the issue of a Brazilian football coach for India with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, who is president of the India Football Federation, has been pushing for seeking professional and highly qualified football trainers from Brazil.

“Football in this part of the world is highly professional and coaches here charge a lot. But something will be worked out shortly. In the meantime, the BCCI has agreed to send a coach,” said Mr. Puri.

The President’s visit to the Christ the Redeemer statue, would have been a washout, had not the 130-feet tall stone statue atop the Corcovado mountain, shown itself for a split second through mist and rain.

It was this momentary “darshan” that saved the day for Indian officials, who had planned the late evening visit through blinding fog. What the President missed, of course, was the panoramic view of Rio de Janeiro.

The President, accompanied by her family, political and official members of her delegation, was moving around, asking questions and making remarks.

As she posed for photographs, the mist suddenly cleared and there stood the statue — gigantic and all encompassing.

Since being placed atop the Corcovado mountain in 1931, the statue has become one of the most famous symbols of Rio.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Seeking stability, Italians vote Berlusconi to power
Anwar ‘ready’ to form government
Bhagwati panel submits final report
Putin to lead United Russia party
When an issue of copyright law turned into a discourse on the writer’s art
An expose about writing travel guides
The continuing destruction of Palestinian homes
India to partner Iran on Russia rail link
Indian gets 7-year jail for duping investors of £100 million
BCCI to send coach to Brazil

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu