Not just for kicks

Unlike the CPAI, the ICPA or even the shortest surviving players8217; body, the Indian Badminton Players Welfare Association IBPWA, the FPA was not born out of some grudge against the parent body. The need to have a football players8217; body was first seen by the country8217;s lone bankable star Bhaichung Bhutia several years back, having seen how things worked in England and Malaysia during his stints with Bury FC and Perak FC.

But it was former India captain V P Sathyan8217;s sudden death that probably gave the final push that the FPA needed. And since the association was born with the blessings of the All India Football Federation AIFF and the Indian Football Association IFA, besides support from a sponsor Allahabad Bank, the longevity of the players8217; body wasn8217;t in doubt.

8220;The Football Players8217; Association has not been formed to get into any kind of confrontation with the AIFF or the IFA. Our primary objective is to help footballers in need, be it current or former players. One of our missions is to educate the players so that they don8217;t get into transfer problems like several players have this season,8221; Bhutia said.

For the AIFF, the FPA was a blessing in disguise, since the latter had already drawn up a blueprint regarding schemes to help out current and former players in need. For starters, the FPA is planning to donate Rs 1 lakh to Sudip Chatterjee, one of India8217;s finest midfielders, who has been suffering from dementia. The IFA, which is the state body in Bengal, has also talked with the FPA in helping out transfer disputes. So, by and large, it is being seen as a symbiotic relationship.

Former international Pradip Chowdhury, who is part of the AIFF Technical Committee and who was also the manager of the Indian team during their Asian Cup match against Saudi Arabia, saw it as a positive development. 8220;It was high time football had its players8217; association. Most footballers are not properly educated and get themselves in trouble over paperwork. We did not have such problems in the 70s since it was a completely amateurish set-up and everything was agreed upon verbally. But, we had our problems and complained often, but were never unified enough to start a players8217; association,8221; he said.

It will be too early to comment on how successful the FPA will finally turn out to be, but at least it has made the right noises, unlike the cricket players8217; body which has been functional for four years now, but no one can put a finger on what it has done all this while.

Maybe, current cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble, who were the founder members of the ICPA, have taken note of what had happened to two former cricketers who had gone against the Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI and tried to form a players8217; body.

It doesn8217;t pay to be outspoken, especially in cricket where the board calls the shots because it pays to heart8217;s content, something Mohinder Amarnath and Krishnamachari Srikkanth learnt the hard way when they tried to form a players8217; body in 1989.

The ICPA, born during the stand-off between the Indian players and the board over a sponsorship issue before the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka in 2002, hasn8217;t exactly made much headway. Arun Lal, the secretary, is too busy with his commentary assignments and M A K Pataudi, the president, is just a symbolic head. Much was expected of the ICPA when the board gagged the players and there were calls to reduce the number of matches to prevent burnout, but all it could come out with was 8216;no comments8217;.

While it8217;s fine to have pension schemes for former cricketers and cricketers8217; widows, there are pressing matters that need to be addressed, but who will bell the cat, seems to be the question.

But in stark contrast the chess players8217; body, led by Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua, has made a difference to their sport. They not only saw the end of Ummer Koya8217;s regime in the All India Chess Federation AICF but it also managed to convince nine of the 11 GMs to join its fold. Things are just fine now with their representative in the AICF coordinating matters.

While the CPAI has been a success story, the biggest eyewash till date has been the IBPWA. Formed in 1997 after Prakash Padukone formed the breakaway Indian Badminton Federation IBF, it died a natural death about four months later when the Badminton Association of India BAI nominated Padukone as the executive president.

8220;I was the president of the players8217; body and Vimal Kumar was the secretary. We had formed the body since two associations had come up and the players8217; interest was at stake. But, soon after Prakash joined BAI, the IBF collapsed and there really was no point in continuing with the players8217; body thereafter,8221; said Pullela Gopichand, current national coach.

Given the way most of the players8217; associations have fared so far, there doesn8217;t seem much hope for our lone luge star Shiva Kesavan who8217;s just started a players8217; body to address the apathy towards the sport.