The game goes on, sans the crowd

Then were they wrong? If AIFF is blamed, then Albert has reason to clarify. ‘‘How do you expect us to intervene when the promoters are doing all the work on our behalf?’’ he retorts.

Explaining himself, Albert adds, ‘‘they have been communicating with all the teams in procurement and we have just been organising the event being in the field.’’ Likewise blaming the promoters would not be fair too.

Think of it the way Albert looks at it. For starts, for Studio 2001 taking up an event of this stature is a task in its own. ‘‘Believe me no one would step forward to do it in years to come.’’

Secondly with a gigantic budget which, even Albert says, fluctuated between Rs 15 to Rs 30 crore, the former being as per his (Albert’s) knowledge and the other reported.

On the plus point, bringing in teams of this stature, which include Chile, Romania, Uruguay, Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Jordan and Bahrain has been something ‘‘no one,’’ according to Albert would of ever done.‘‘Quality teams are what the Indians would be watching, but unfortunately communication with various teams have been poor,’’ informs Albert, which is why barring a few, several teams have not taken this tourney seriously.

What is acting, as a major ‘hype’ is the FIFA ranking that each country boasts. However, on the other side, teams like Bosnia, Bangladesh are teams with near total National sides, ‘‘but are they crowd pullers,’’ is how an ex-India international asks.

When asked about the ticket sales of the Group-C lung opener between Romania and Jordan. ‘‘The pass sales have actually picked up,’’ comes the answer just about summing up the low-key marketing strategy of the promoters. A solution that reads ‘‘working in tandem,’’ is something aptly put by Albert.Going back one can only remember the time Indian football had with the Nehru Cup and the Super Soccer series which brought in teams like PSV Eindhoven (Holland), FC Bochum (Germany), to packed stadiums.