The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Friday painted a rosy picture of the state of the game and its administration.
At the end of a significant meeting of its Executive Committee, the AIFF said things were in place. To begin with, AIFF President Praful Patel assured that Bob Houghton would continue to be the chief coach despite apprehensions that he had asked for a ‘raise' and an extension of his contract.
“The reports about Houghton resigning are baseless. He had certain issues that were communicated to us through his agent, but he does not want to leave. I have been authorised by our Executive Committee to sort out the issue,” Mr. Patel said.
Meeting
He said Houghton had met him 10 days ago. “He even discussed the plans for junior football and the restructuring of the I-League. His contract runs till January next year and might be extended. But that is an internal issue that will be sorted out,” said Mr. Patel.
The AIFF is clearly looking at giving the game a bog boost at the junior level. “We have to look at the future. I am more concerned about how we shape in the next decade. We do have some immediate goals to be met, but want football to thrive. Let me assure you that raising finances for football is not an issue. I can manage that.
“We have to presently form a plan for the future. We are looking to work on the development of the infrastructure. We are studying some models from overseas (like multiple-discipline stadia technology). We realise that we need to time the matches better (in the evenings) to evoke more interest,” stressed Mr. Patel.
Good news for juniors
In an encouraging move for the juniors, the AIFF has decided to allow an under-19 team to participate in the I-league. “We will have an under-19 team in the I-League from next year. The players will be on contract with the AIFF and will be based out of Delhi. We are in the process of developing a modern programme for the under-19 players and will also identify an international coach for them,” Mr. Patel said.
The AIFF chief played down the issue of Mahindra United disbanding its team. “That's not the end of the world. We are discussing it with them. It is unfortunate that they will not be part of the I-League, but we will get replacements. This is something that does not happen every day.
“But thankfully, we have many corporates who want to support teams, so players should not worry. At the end of it, we will have a stronger league and the under-19 team will definitely add interest.”
The AIFF also offered a 15 per cent increase in the contracts for the 30 National players who are part of the Goal 2011 project. The players, however, had indicated that they would only agree to hike which matches the fee increase that their respective clubs offer them.
The next National championship for the Santosh Trophy, to be held from the third week of July, has been allotted to Kolkata and the I-League will start in September.
