National camp becomes a farce

KV Dhanesh of ITI, Bangalore and S Venkatesh of Mahindra United have also given the camp a skip.

8220;I cannot blame the players for not attending the camp. Most of the players come from lower middle-class families; money is their priority. Even the clubs feel that since they are splurging lakhs on them they cannot ignore their duties,8221; the veteran Olympian told The Indian Express.

The most notable absentee here is Bhaichung Bhutia, who too, is busy with his commitments to the English club, Bury FC. He is expected to join the team in England. On Bhutia8217;s absence from the camp, the Indian thinktank said that the ace striker was given permission by the AIFF to skip the camp.

The Indian team will be touring England and South Korea as part of their exposure trip and are scheduled to play against First Division English clubs Fulham and West Bromwich and also against Bangladesh in England.

Releasing players for the national camp has always been a controversial issue; even this time around, the players from the Calcutta club were not released on the premise that the club was participating in the ongoing McDowell Cup in Calcutta.

While the coaches at the camp feel hampered by the absence of key players, nobody seems to have an answer to the irksome question: What comes first 8212; National duty or the club?

So is there a way out of this confusion? 8220;The Indian football calender has to be revised. There has to be some gap between the tournaments just like the other countries.8221; Banerjee pointed out.

Banerjee also clarified that by effecting a change in the calender, not only the National team would be benefitted but the players would also be getting valuable time to relax. 8220;The lure of money easily attracts the bigger clubs and playing non-stop can be killing for the players who should get the time to regroup themselves,8221; he added.

The camp, which got underway on June 21, will conclude on July 14 and the team will leave for London on July 17 from Delhi.