Conflict starts over the release of players for the national camp

It seems that a conflict has already started between the two Kolkata giants, East Bengal and Mohan Bagan, and AIFF over the player release for the national preparatory camp for the upcoming Nehru Cup.

Sanju Pradhan, Mehtab Hussain and Robin Singh from East Bengal got selected in Koverman’s 37-members Nehru Cup squad. But East Bengal’s British coach Trevor James Morgan has already cleared about the fact that he is not willing to release these three players as this will might hamper his team’s balance. This trio has played an important role for the Red and Gold Brigade in the last couple of seasons. While Sanju, who was the captain in the last season, operated East Bengal’s right wing quite successfully, Robin operated the left wing. Mehtab was out of the team for a long time in the previous season but he is capable of taking a huge work load in the mid-field. Missing these three players in the starting of a season will be a big problem for Morgan and Co.

On the other hand from Mohan Bagan’s squad for 2012-13 season, 4 players got called up in the national team. Apart from goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya, Nirmal Chhetri, Syed Rahim Nabi and Jewel Raja also got selected. In the last season Rahim Nabi and Jewel Raja helped Mohun Bagan quite well, while Nirmal has signed for ‘the Mariners’ this season from East Bengal.

In the meanwhile, former India captain Baichung Bhutia’s comment over this decision of clubs, added some extra heat in the atmosphere. In a media conference when asked about this conflict this football icon said, “I think it’s very silly. All the clubs have to support the national team. It’s not like they have to play the Fed Cup or the I-league? They just have to play some pre season tournaments in remote areas of the countries. If the national team progresses, so do the clubs. Football grows only when the national team gets better. There should be no second thoughts on releasing the players if there are no I-league or Fed Cup fixtures. On the other hand, the younger players who warm the bench have a good chance in the pre season.”

Interestingly, none of the Kolkata club officials have given any importance to Baichung’s view. A meeting is supposed to be held on July 22 between AIFF and club officials to discuss this issue and a possible solution will come up from this meeting.