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Sea change on cards in State football

Special Correspondent

Significant changes expected at the State-level too
District candidates set for major gains

CHENNAI: The winds of change in football administration in Tamil Nadu continues to blow. First it was the Chennai Football Association that underwent a change with Ravikumar David taking over from the veteran C.R. Visswanathan as the President.

Now lot more significant changes are likely at the State-level. This much is clear from a look at the final list of nominations (July 16 was the last date for filing) for the elections to the various posts in the Tamil Nadu Football Association scheduled on July 27 at the General Body in Courtrallam.

With three sitting members from Chennai, C.R. Visswanathan (President), T.R. Govindarajan (Secretary) and Ravikumar David (Treasurer) deciding not to contest, the TFA this time appears open for the district candidates to make major gains, perhaps a total sweep. The nominations too point to that scenario. The duo of ‘CRV’ and ‘TRG’ has been at the helm for close to two decades (the latter has been an office-bearer for over three decades) but insiders point to conflicting thinking in district circles with the undercurrents indicating the need for a change of guard.

As per the list of nominations, S. Cleetus Babu (Tirunelveli), S. Shanmugham (Dindigul) and V. Thiagarajan (Chennai) will fight for the post of President. There are six candidates for the five Vice-Presidents’ posts: N. Balasubramaniam (Erode), A. Davidson Joselin (Kanyakumari), Karuna Chelliah (Tirunelveli), A.S.K. Rajendran (Nilgiris), S. Sundararajan (Dindigul) and A.K. Yussof (Tiruchi); three candidates for one Secretary’s post: R. Rajasekaran (Kancheepuram), R. Sadatcharam (Madurai), E. Sugumaran (Chennai) and three for the Treasurer’s post: S. Kantharajan (Chennai), S. Noblerajan (Tirunelveli) and D.S. Sivasamy (Kancheepuram).

Asked why he was opting out, Mr. Visswanathan said he had to come to know that some district units in the South had sought a change in the leadership and decided to “bow to their sentiments”. In this changed scenario, Mr Visswanathan who is also the AIFF Vice-President and also Chairman of four key committees said he would be seeking the opinion of the President Priyaranjan Dasmunsi at an appropriate time to find out if he should remain with the All-India body.

As for TRG, he had given sufficient indications that he would not wish to continue further, citing his age. “I have told my friends that I will be available for any advice but no longer can I take day-to-day work load,” he said.

The Courtrallam meeting then should signal the end of an era in the football administration in Tamil Nadu.

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