WITH the axe hanging over his head, Stephen Constantine needs some time off to write a long letter. A letter that John Wright had written almost three years ago when faced with a similar crisis on the cricket field. That letter to BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya didn’t just save his job, it changed the face of Indian cricket. Comparing the two sports in the Indian context would be totally out of place but Constantine is today more or less in the same boat as was Wright. But for the football coach the tide is harsher. For Wright, a functional cricket setup was in place: what was missing was the professional touch. In Indian football, it’s tough to say what’s missing, tough to know where to start. And certainly tough to say how much of the fault lies with Constantine, if indeed any at all. If Constantine needed help, it’s come from no less an institution than the Asian Football Confederation, which earlier this month released its Vision India report. It dealt in pretty blunt terms about a lack of vision and called for drastic changes in the way Indian football is run: ‘‘The transition to professional football was unplanned and has not been successful. There is no development plan and change does not seem to be on the agenda’’ ‘‘In some states, football development is a priority, but lack of resources and a planned approach have hindered success. In other states there is no focus on development and no resources available.’’ One example from last week’s match against Japan offers enough illustration. While the top football teams travel with a support staff of about 20, the Indian coach had the bare minimum assistance. Keeping him company on the bench were an assistant coach, a goalkeeping coach, a doctor and a physio. And the only one with a permanent job was Constantine himself. It’s an ad-hocism that needs to change, admits AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco. ‘‘Not just the support staff, even the coaches of the junior teams, which provide Constantine vital inputs on the talent available, are also not permanent. Our coach has pointed this to me and I agree it needs to be changed,’’ he told The Sunday Express. Colaco was ready with Constantine’s Pressing Problem No.2: a ‘‘hectic domestic calendar’’. While Indian cricketers are blamed for neglecting the domestic game it is exactly the opposite in football. At times ‘India games’ suffer because of club commitments. When India played Oman in the World Cup qualifier early this year the East Bengal players in the squad had their minds elsewhere. Ten days before and after the game they were to represent their club in the AFC Clubs’ Cup. Constantine would have preferred them fresh and so would the AIFF but it was, says Colaco, a Catch-22 situation. ‘‘If we had withdrawn the top players from East Bengal they wouldn’t have sent a team for the AFC tournament. That would have meant a huge embarrassment for the AIFF,’’ he said. Clearly a case of confused priorities. Back to Oman. When Mahindra United beat Oman’s Dhoffar Club at home in an AFC Cup match early this February, there was general jubilation. It was believed that the upcoming World Cup match between the two countries would have a similar scoreline. But few bothered to notice that Dhoffar were playing with a depleted squad since most of their top players were in the national camp. So when Oman played India in the World Cup, it was a resounding win for the former. While India, again, had opted for club, for Oman it was country first. ‘‘Constantine called us up to point this out but we are helpless,’’ says Colaco. Wright’s revolution has resulted in reforms percolating deeper than they’d ever been before. While it obviously leaves much to be desired, there are talent spotters, selectors and specialist coaches at various levels, and his philosophy is being taken up suo motu at the grassroots level. That’s an infrastructure Constantine would kill for. The selection process — and all it involves — begins and ends with the national coach. And, defying the laws of space and time, he does manage to fit in most NFL matches — even so, is it enough? Colaco speaks of one school of thought — which he doesn’t necessarily agree with — about there being better players in Kolkata’s local league than the NFL. This certainly is debatable but considering India’s geography there might be areas which are certainly untapped. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Wright sent Dalmiya a 10-page letter; maybe, Constantine needs to write a book.
