Where is Indian football headed?

Fans celebrate lifting of ban against Mohun Bagan

I still remember when former Indian cricketer Mohinder Amarnath earned the wrath from the officials for calling BCCI selectors a ‘bunch of jokers’ in 1989. Probably, he was the only cricketer then during that tumultuous time in Indian cricket who called a ‘spade a spade’.

After the All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) revoked the two-year ban on Mohun Bagan on Tuesday, the tag of ‘bunch of jokers’ can also be applied on the football officials, who seemed to have made fun of everything over these two weeks. The Federation backtracked from their earlier verdict and made us believe that actually, there are no rules at all pertaining to the I-League.

The Calcutta club may have got a massive reprieve by revoking of the ban, but what is the logic of asking them to pay Rs. 2 crore fine? Secondly, the club will have to re-start the season with zero points, which means that Bagan will have to win all their remaining matches if they are to avoid relegation. Then, why was there so much hullabaloo over the ban? If the club had abandoned their I-League match against East Bengal midway on December 9, 2012, why didn’t the Federation demote them then?

It’s difficult to expect logic from the officials, who are running the game from their comfort zone at Football House in Delhi. A rule is a rule and that’s what we were made to believe all this while. But after this decision on Tuesday, we are convinced — jokers can only entertain us!

The smile is back on the faces of Bagan president Swapan Bose and secretary Anjan Mitra. Even the pot-bellied Debashish Dutta will probably finish off a couple of freshly served, mouth-watering fish cutlets at the club canteen. The mood in the club will soon turn into something like a puja pandal — sweets will be distributed and everything will be good.

The troika of Bose-Mitra-Dutta reigns supreme in Bagan. I’m not sure if they really love their club. Had it been the case, they would have tendered their resignation, since it’s because of these officials that the Mariners have been mired in controversies. Why should a club suffer because of their irrational ideas? The Federation, in its circular, has clearly stated that Mitra and his colleagues won’t represent the club at any I-League meetings in this season.

I strongly feel, the Federation has taken a softer stand, and the Mitras and Duttas should have been banned for couple of seasons. Also, there is no mention of Bagan coach Karim Bencharifa. Along with the officials, the Moroccan also deserve a strict reminder that he can’t get away from inciting Odafa Okolie, who faces a disciplinary action for arguing with the referee.

Come to think of it, I’ve never seen Indian football in such a dishevelled look. From the bottom to the top tier, there seems to be no rule and its book has been thrown out of the window by those who have implemented them.

Hosting FIFA medical and coaching seminars are only attempts to divert our attention from the serious issues which has been crippling Indian football. The gimmick that ‘Indian football is shining’, is only a myth. The sustained campaigns launched by the AIFF to highlight the ‘development’ works have nothing to do with the game’s progress.

You can feel the frustration everywhere. In the clubs and in some state associations, officials are just happy to run the show. Delhi, where the Federation is based, doesn’t have a single club which can qualify for the I-League. I’ve seen the standard of football and the officials in the Capital. Meanwhile, the game has lost its shine and interest in other traditional pockets like Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu is dipping too.

In Indian football, all that shines is definitely not gold.