AIFF scores self goal with football flop show

KOLKATA, JANUARY 15: I will be there with my team in Calcutta, the city of Mother Teresa. I wish all success to the tournament.'' This s...

KOLKATA, JANUARY 15: “I will be there with my team in Calcutta, the city of Mother Teresa. I wish all success to the tournament.” This soundbyte from Chilean star Ivan Zamorano formed a major part of the pre-tournament publicity for the Sahara Millennium Cup. It was also touted at every opportunity by All-India Football Federation (AIFF) president Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, and a video clipping showing the Chilean star was beamed on the giant screen at press conferences held in Calcutta, Delhi and Goa in November last year.

Calcuttans were turned on; the last time they had seen top-quality footballers was in 1984, when Argentina’s squad for the Nehru Cup included the Jorges Burruchaga and Valdano and Nery Pumpido, all of whom would win World Cup medals two years later. Now Calcutta looked forward to Za-Sa (Zamorano and Marcelo Salas, a prolific goal-scoring duo).

When the Chilean team landed here, there was, of course, no Za-Sa. Chilean journalists accompanying the team faced a barrage of questions from their outraged local counterparts. “Za-Sa’s absence has severely hit the tournament. Why didn’t they turn up?” Finally, one of them was forced to point out that the Millennium Cup was rather low down on the stars’ list of priorities.

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That episode is symptomatic of the manner in which the Sahara Cup is being held. The tournament was to be the crowning glory for the AIFF, a fitting riposte from Dasmunshi to those who had threatened his authority just a few weeks ago. In fact, India’s hitherto premier tournament, the National Football League, was stopped midway to accommodate the “greatest football show in India”.

Today, Dasmunshi can only pray for his nightmare to end soon; the crown is distinctly one of thorns.

The tournament was hit by controversy even before it took off on Wednesday. To begin with, the name was changed at the eleventh hour from the Millennium Cup to the Sahara Millennium Super Cup. Then, three teams withdrew before a ball was kicked: Olympic champions and African Team of the Century’ Cameroon, Iraq — reportedly over their refusal to play European sides — and then Indonesia landed up with a clutch of foreigners and were asked to leave.

Among the other participating teams here Uzbekistan have come with a C’ grade squad while a bunch of university students turned up in Japanese colours.

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All this obviously had an effect on the crowds, which generally turn up in huge numbers on any local footballing action in the city. This time, they’ve chosen to stay away. What hasn’t helped matters is AIFF’s organisational skills, or lack of it. The entire city is virtually devoid of any tournament publicity; this reporter could not see a single banner in the most obvious parts of the city.

One tip for Dasmunshi. When he stages his next tournament, he would do well to consult fellow Calcuttan Jagmohan Dalmiya, someone who knows a thing or two about organising tournaments. Hopefully, then the burgeoning lists of embarrassments won’t cover the length of Howrah Bridge.