SAI moots foreign directors

It is generally felt that foreigners are very disciplined and take great care in detailing and delegating work. So it was suggested during the meeting that to drive sports further we should go ahead and appoint a few, confirmed a source who was part of the deliberations.

But the matter is still under discussion as we havent fully deliberated as to how we should go about doing it. Whether he/she should be attached to the federation or whether he/she be part of the SAI set up is yet to be finalised, the source added.

Sticky points

Also the reaction of a federation to a situation,wherein a foreigner takes charge without the federation getting a say in his appointment is another of the sticky point that the members will have to resolve.

The issue came up for deliberation during a presentation given by former sailing Olympian Malav Shroff. Shroffs idea was that an unbiased and hard-task master would help increase the level of professionalisation currently lacking in the country.

SAI director general Jiji Thomson also gave a power point presentation where among other things he stressed as to why SAI needs to work on its branding and devise ways to generate revenues.

Renting out JLN Stadium

The only decision that came after a marathon five-hour meeting was made by the revenue generation committee that includes Shroff,Viren Rasquinha,joint secretary sports Onkar Kedia and headed by Thomson. The comittee agreed to rent out Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium to All-India Football Federation for six months to be used for its tournament in partnership with Reliance.

SAI officials estimate the move will bring in revenue of over Rs 1 crore.