Indian football captain Bhaichung Bhutia clarified on Thursday that it was misinterpreted when he spoke about some of the I-League club coaches not having AFC ‘A’ license and said he was nobody to advise anybody to about such a qualification.
East Bengal coach Subhas Bhowmick has reacted sharply to a reported comment by Bhutia that some coaches were reluctant to get the AFC ‘A’ license on the ground that they had played the game at the highest level.
Bhowmick said Bhutia is yet to mature as a person and every word he said should not be taken seriously.
However,Bhutia said that he was nobody to advise a coach to get an AFC license but if the coaches have advance qualification it will only benefit Indian football.
“What I have said has been mis interpreed. I am nobody to advise somebody or a coach to get a license or not. It is not my job and I am not a policy maker. Rather it is the job of the AIFF,” Bhutia said.
“I had only the betterment of Indian football in mind. If a coach gets an advance degree or qualification that only benefits Indian football,but I am not the one who would say he should or should not get it,” said Bhutia at the sidelines of launch of Manchester United Cafe and Bar in North India in New Delhi.
Bhutia said Indian football need big time marketing to improve its profile but before that the country needs drastic improvement in infrastructure such as top clubs having their own training grounds and other facilities.
“No doubt we need marketing to improve the profile of the game in the country with the help of corporate sector. But before that we need training facilities for every club. The infrastructure has not changed much in the last 16 years of my career. So we need drastic improvement in infrastructure,” said the 32-year-old striker.
Later while inaugurating the website of the Football Players Association of India,Bhutia said he was grateful to his national teammates for their support in the controversy over his suspension by Mohun Bagan.
“I am dealing with the issue and players are supportive of my case with Mohun Bagan,” Bhutia said while launching a football based website,along with India teammates Sunil Chhetri,Gouramangi Singh and Mahesh Gawli.