Irked soccer ‘experts’ in confrontation mode

This came back again, strongly too, for three of the most illustrious footballers the country has ever seen. In a mockery of what has been called a ‘selection interview’, where applicants were shortlisted and asked to present themselves to a board — comprising P.K. Banerjee, Chuni Goswami and Derek D’Souza, as well C.R. Viswanathan of the AIFF — four almost as illustrious applicants came at their own expense and submitted themselves to ten indifferent questions.

So far so good. Then the farce hit. A source close to the luminaries made it very clear that the renowned footballers and coaches of yesteryears were so cut up with the attitude of the AIFF top brass that they have decided to present a ‘‘separate report with a separate set of suggestions’’ on the coach issue. That will be apart from whatever official version exists.

Why is this happening? It is because this entire exercise has been gone through in the usual AIFF way, sans any consideration for propriety.

Most importantly, it is now being seen that, after the entire procedure has been gone through, Sukhwinder Singh may yet remain coach till, at least the SAFF Cup. Many suggestions put forth by the experts have been pushed to the cold storage, and there is an increasing possibility of all systems falling back to pre-interview stage.

There also seems to have been some lack of communication between the experts and the AIFF nominees on the board. When the regular report is placed before the president an AIFF bias cannot be avoided.