City’s star football team awaits Admn’s pat on its back

Rakesh Bakshi,secretary,Chandigarh Football Association,said he would honour the players in the coming days. “I haven’t got any information from the Chandigarh Administration regarding the felicitation of the players. Indeed,the Chandigarh team has created history by winning the junior nationals and they should be duly awarded. We will hold a function for them soon and boost their morale,” he said.

J P S Sidhu,Joint Director,Sports,had said a week ago that they haven’t decided about honouring the Chandigarh team yet.

The talent of Chandigarh players was even recognised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF),as the football body had invited 10 city boys to attend the Under-19 national camp that is going on in Goa. It is not the first time that achievements of footballers have skipped the UT Administartion’s notice. One of city’ best known footballers,Sanjiv Maria,who had once played for India,has never been felicitated by the Chandigarh Administration despite his success both at club and national-level soccer.

Also,since November 2008,the Chandigarh Administration has also failed to send Chandigarh Football Academy (CFA) trainees for training at Sportschule Egidius Braun Leipzig of Germany as per their 2006 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Andre Kuehn,director of Sportschule.

Veterans unhappy
D P Azad:They should have been honoured immediately after winning the title. Justice delayed is justice denied. I hope they will honour the players soon.

Sanjiv Maria:The Administration should announce cash awards for the team. But they haven’t done anything yet. Had some other state won the title,the players would have certainly got something or the other. It is difficult to repeat such a feat and the Administration should understand that. How will the players be motivated if their contribution goes unnoticed? Motivation is very important for players.