Indian football got a shot in the arm with the country’s Sports Ministry sanctioning a sum of Rs. 10 crore for preparation for the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. The ministry is in consultation with the All-India Football Federation (AIFF) to chart out a roadmap for the under-23 side, which will take part in the Games. Like the Olympics, the Asian Games too is considered an amateur competition and only three over-23 players can participate in the meet.
“The amount is expected to be judiciously used by the federation to put up a strong challenge at the regional games. Ideally, it should be spent on coaching and exposure trips, but the final call is to be made by the AIFF and its coaches,” Joint Secretary of the Sports Ministry Ingeti Srinivas said. “But we will also like to keep some checks and balances to see that the programme is run properly.”
Welcoming the government’s move, AIFF acting president and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said in a statement: “We had one round of meetings with the Sports Ministry and a lot of positives have come out of it. We will again sit down with them later this year to find out how we can work together to put Indian football on the right track.”
But a section of the federation officials have expressed their anger over the government move to tie down the grant only for the junior team’s expenses. “Our main focus should be the Asia Cup in 2011 in Qatar. A good performance will re-establish us as an Asian powerhouse and will also improve our Fifa rankings,” an official said under condition of anonymity. “The Asian Games has hardly any significance in the footballing world.”
The ministry, incidentally, has already released Rs. 80 lakh to the AIFF for the senior national team’s preparatory tour to Dubai and Barcelona. “The ministry had borne more than half of the ongoing tour abroad but more needs to be done,” the official said.
“We have a very ambitious plan for the Asia Cup and to materialise it at least Rs. 40 crore is needed. The federation on its own will try to realise the maximum amount. But if we fall short the ministry should look into it. Success there will bring back football to the mainstream and corporates too will show added interest in the game.”
Ministry officials are believed to be looking into the matter and Patel is expected to meet his Sports Ministry counterpart M.S. Gill to iron out the differences. “We are aware of the importance of the Asia Cup and are looking into possible ways to help the team,” Srinivas said.
AIFF’s technical director and in-charge of the junior team, Colin Toal, said from Goa: “We have a good setup of junior boys and I feel we have a decent chance to do well in China. The team, however, needs to play with better international opponents before the tournament to realise their full potential. A good performance there will be good for Indian football as they are the players for the future.”
Toal, though, stayed clear of the controversy surrounding the senior and junior teams and refused to comment.
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