A national football league with only regional flavour

JCT Mills, Phagwara, won the inaugural edition in 1996-97. then they had Bhaichung Bhutia, I M Vijayan, Jo Paul Ancheri, Nigerian Stephen Abarowei and Carlton Chapman. Traditional superpowers like East Bengal and Mohun Bagan were biding their time. They won six of the next eight titles, the other two being won by Goan clubs.

Teams from the south have disappeared. The tenth edition will see four teams from Margao, three teams from Kolkata, two teams from Mumbai and one team from Ludhiana. No south.

Little wonder that messers Priya Ranjan Das Munshi and Albert Colaco have woken, up, albeit a little late.

REFEREES AT A PREMIUM

The two men at the helm have also drawn a lot of flak over the quality of refereeing. Only a handful — K Sanker, S M Balu and Subrata Sarkar — have scaled Asian standards. The AIFF’s refereeing committee (which assigned referees) no longer exists. Referees are posted at random. It’s not a lucrative job either and expectedly, the number of quality referees are at a premium.

WRONG FOREIGN POLICY

The number of quality foreigners these days can be counted on one’s fingers. The likes of Chima Okorie, Igor Shvikrin, Cristiano Junior, Douglas da Silva, Yusuf Yakubu and Dudu Omagbemi have helped raise the profile of the league, but over the years, the quality of foreigners has been on a downslide.

Das Munshi has now issued a veiled threat to the clubs to recruit quality foreigners, and for once he knew what he was talking about.

Both Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, who won the title for two consecutive years before Dempo and Sporting Clube de Goa made it a Goan affair last season, are paying the price for compromising on quality. This year, the latter has only managed to recruit Mike Okoro and have already released a few even before giving them a decent run, thus leaving it with the problem of filling up three of the four foreigners slot with just two days to go for their first match against Mohammedan Sporting.

Last-minute efforts are now on by both East Bengal and Mohun Bagan to get foreigners playing in the Bangladesh league.

Dempo take on Sporting

In Margao, defending champions Dempo take on Super Cup champions Sporting Clube de Goa. Dempo did not start the season well, losing out early in the Federation Cup and Durand Cup. But the title win in Goa’s league early this year have lifted their morale.

Dempo coach Armando Colaco’s main worry is injuries to his key players. With Riston Rodrigues, Jose Colaco and Valeriano Rebello being ruled out due to knee injuries, he will have to rely on his stop gap players in the initial stage.

Armando’s strength will be Brazilian recruit Roberto Mendes Silva and Nigerian Ranty Martins.