They have a blueprint for Indian football

NEW DELHI - Only five of the 40-odd applicants for the two key posts in the All India Football Federation (AIFF) appear to have the right credentials. All of them have a vision and a blueprint to pull Indian football from the abyss it finds itself in.

A couple of former footballers and top administrators have applied, some for the top post of the secretary-general and couple of others for the post of the chief executive of the I-League. Only a handful will be short-listed for the two jobs Wednesday.

They are articulate and parrot the same mantra: invest in youth development programme to secure the future of India’s football.

The senior most with a solid football pedigree and varied accomplishments is Syed Shahid (S.S.) Hakeem, but the CV of Goa Football Association (GFA) secretary Savio Messias is no less impressive. Then the youthful, enthusiastic Shaji Prabhakaran, who till recently served as AIFF development officer, can bring in fresh ideas. They all have applied for the secretary-general’s post to succeed Alberto Colaco who is ending his eight-year tenure next month.

Former Mahindra coach and player Harish Rao and AIFF’s director of competitions Anil Kamath, who has been in charge of the national league for the last 13 years, along with Hakeem are looking to fill the I-League chief executive’s post. For them a pan-India touch to the league is the prime concern.

Hakeem, son of legendary coach Syed Abdul (S.A.) Rahim, is the only applicant to have played the game at the highest level, being an Olympian, and followed it up as a successful referee — standing in an India record 33 FIFA games, coach and administrator.

Hakeem was also the secretary of the Armed Forces Sports Control Board (AFSCB) for six years and then worked as dean at the National Institute of Sports, Patiala, for a decade. Ideally, he fits the bill, but some point to his advancing age, 67 years.

For his age, he is pretty active and reminds his critics that FIFA chief Sepp Blatter at 73 is running around the globe to promote his motto of ‘Football for All and All for Football’. Hakeem wants people to judge how good he is, not how old he is.

“I have played for India at the highest level (1960 Rome Olympics) and have coached at all levels, right from the grass roots. I have coached Mohammedan Sporting, Salgaocar, Mahindra and Mahindra, Bengal-Mumbai Club and Delhi’s top team Hindustan Club and produced results without any big names,” Hakeem told IANS to buttress his claims.

“If we have to be among the top 100 of the FIFA rankings, the only way is to work on a war footing to spread the game among the youth. It should start from the schools and graduate into colleges if we have to get the golden days of Indian football back. For that the states have to play a key role and the planning has to be both short-term and long-term.”

GFA secretary Messias, who is associated with Vasco Sports Club, while endorsing Hakeem’s youth policy, wants to involve all the stakeholders, the state associations being the foremost, in all the programmes.

“The state units must be made aware of their responsibilities if any programme has to succeed. States are the football nurseries.”

Messias feels AIFF’s future leadership should set realistic goals rather than chasing fanciful dreams of qualifying for the World Cup.

“Let us accept the ground realities. We can’t dream of playing in the World Cup. We have to go step by step, think of Asia first and then the world,” said Messias.

Both Messias and Prabhakaran, who was the director of Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) Vision India project, said the challenge for the new general secretary is not evolving policies, but to implement them sincerely.

Prabhakaran, a graduate from the prestigious Lakshmibai National University of Physical Education, Gwalior, has a fair idea how the wheels of AIFF move, having been a part of it for five years.

“We have to involve the best people to formulate realistic and realisable policies. But the real challenge will be to execute them. The other priority should be to create first-class infrastructure for the sport.”

Rao, who coached Maharashtra to the Santosh Trophy, said lot of issues need to be sorted out if the league has to make a real impact.

“AIFF’s showpiece event cannot be played only in a couple of pockets, leaving large chunks of the country uncovered. The league is expanding alright, albeit slowly, as we will have a team from northeast (Lajong) this time. But we have to take the game to traditional centres like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. All these states have produced Olympians and famous footballers in the past,” he said.

Kamath feels that his experience of more than a decade in running the league will stand in good stead for him.

“My target will be to make all the clubs realise their responsibilities in making the I-League one of the best in Asia,” he said.