The Hindu : Sport / Football : Professional league to be held in stages

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jul 10, 2005

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Professional league to be held in stages

Sports Reporter

KOLKATA: The All India Football Federation president, Mr. Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, said that the professional National league slated to start next season will be brought up in stages to allow the teams to adjust to the new format. Dasmunsi, who held a meeting with representatives of the three major clubs of the city — East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting, on Saturday, said that the participation in the professional league will also entail systemizing the club administration as stipulated by the Asian Football Confederation. "The clubs should improve their infrastructure and also put professionals in the administration to ensure its proper functioning," he said.

The AIFF president said that the AFC president, Mr. Mohammad Bin Hammam, would be visiting India next month to take stock of the infrastructure of the clubs that will be participating in the professional league. He added that the AIFF is setting up a task force involving representatives of different corporate houses and state associations — like Maharashtra, Goa and Bengal — to discuss preparations for the pro-league.

Dasmunshi also informed that India, with its long footballing history, has been chosen to contribute memorabilia in the `mini soccer museum' that would come up in Germany during the World Cup next year.

Mitra coordinator

The AIFF has appointed former India team captain, Santo Mitra, as the coordinator to identify the items that would be sent to the museum. He said that Mitra would be focusing on the traditional football associations like Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Goa before finalising the list of items.

The President also said that the AIFF players' status committee would be meeting in Goa on July 16 to decide the fate of 23 players whose inter-club transfers have become embroiled in disputes. He said that the National body is planning some exposure tours for the National team to help its preparations for the Asian Games in Doha next year. The president said that efforts are on to include "nations with high FIFA rankings" in the itinerary of the exposure tours.

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