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| SPORT TRIBUNE | Saturday, February 12, 2000, Chandigarh, India |
Will
AIFF’s new plans boost football? Greats
in search of laurels Steps
needed to put cricket on rails
DGC
to give boost to golf |
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Will AIFF’s new plans
boost football? The new year has started a month late but begun with good intentions by the All-India Football Federation. The first step taken by the federation about making the Delhi office functional was overdue. The office has always been at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium but the decision related news always emanated from wherever the President or Secretary of the federation was situated. Nothing wrong except that the purpose for which the office was opened in the capital was nullified. Now it has been rectified. In any case the President, Priya Ranjan Das Munshi is in the capital for long periods, attending Parliament and it is only right that he also conducts his football affairs from the office specially given to the federation. The federation has, it appears, finally woken up to the inherent deficiencies plaguing Indian football and has come with a number of remedial measures. One of the more important aspects of this awakening is that it has addressed the needs of the challenge facing Indian football in the Afro-Asian Games to be held in New Delhi next year. 2001. This is a good thing. India cannot just go about hosting major internationals without preparing its teams for the level of competition generally pervading in these meets. The standard of football in the Afro Asian Games will be very high and though one does not expect the Indians to perform miracles it would not be too much to hope for some sort of a competitive level performance. The team should be able to put up a decent fight. Victory maybe out of question but an honourable defeat can always be worked out. Since the country in any case will be making preparations for the qualifying rounds of the World Cup, any preparations for the Afro Asian games will automatically carry over to the World Cup qualifying in 2002. The federation has it appears is looking for a foreign coach who will work along with a technical director and three assistant coaches apart from a professional manager who will start with a bunch of 36 players for the purpose. It is a good idea on the part of the federation to promise compensation to the clubs for providing the players. This is always a tricky issue. The clubs are not always willing to lend the players to the federation for long spells of coaching camps. They are well within their rights to object to the federation plans which hurt them during major tournaments. But one wonders whether compensation, one presumes it is in financial terms, will make up for the losses the club will suffer on the playing fields. The federation must thrash out this issue with the clubs before committing itself to any long term plans. Two years is a big enough period and the number of coaching camps will be many. The clubs may initially agree to loan the players but once the camps get extended the attitudes will change, perhaps harden. One must remember that the clubs naturally place more importance on the local league and then on the National League which is into the fourth year now. The Federation Cup, when held, and some of the major tournaments, also mean a lot to the clubs. This is not to imply that the clubs and players are not willing to serve the country’s cause but they would like something more concrete and less time consuming. The Federation’s other plan on the anvil is the offer to Mohammed Ismail of Uzbekistan for honing of the youth development programme and the negotiations with Franz Barriquand of France to assist the senior team is to be commended. But without meaning to be a pessimist, one would like to ask if all these plans are not reminiscent of the grandiose future chalked out for Indian football in the early 80s.? The Jawaharlal Nerhu Tournament had been started with a view of giving Indian football more exposure. But instead of helping the boys, it only served to expose the poor standard of the game in India. In fact despite the best of intentions the federations plans backfired. The poor showing by the Indian team in the Nehru Tournament and the opening up of football world through TV channels (the World Cup and other tournaments came live to the drawing rooms) only helped reveal the vast difference in the standard of football as played by the Indians and that prevailing in the world outside. Training programmes with successful foreign coaches also attracted much attention but Indian football remained where it has been since mid-70s, amongst the weakest teams in the continent, with even the sub-continent teams of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal often carrying the day. This is not to disenchant the AAFI in its efforts to improve Indian football. But one cannot get away from the facts as they are. There has to be some solution but unfortunately not everyone seems to know how to go about it. It does not, however, mean that the federation should stop making an effort. It is heartening in this respect to know that the federation is taking more interest in women’s football by planning to conduct nationals at sub-junior and junior level apart from regional tournaments. The Federation’s
ambitions for Indian football and plans for improvement
must be appreciated and encouraged. But one must remember
foreign coaches, not matter how good they are, cannot
work miracles. They have to be given a reasonably long
time to strike some sort of understanding with the
players. There have been far too many and frequent
changes of coaches in recent years. That is perhaps one
of the reasons for the stagnation of Indian football at
the level that it is now. |
Greats in search of laurels The Sydney Olympics dominates the 2000 sporting calendar and may help people forgot the year of shame endured by the International Olympic Committee as revelations about members’ corruption repeatedly hit the headlines. Gold medals will be decided in 28 sports across 17 days of competition from September 15. Centre stage will be the athletes plying their trade in the Australian capital’s 1,10,000-capacity Olympic stadium. United States sprinters Maurice Greene and Michael Johanson—who set 100 - metre and 400 - metre world records respectively in 1999 — will try to add Olympic golds to the world championship titles they won Seville last August. Over the longer distances, Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie will be aiming to repeat his 10,000 - meter Atlanta gold. Gebrselassie, rated by many as the best distance runner of all time, has said several times that he hopes to bow out on a winning note in Sydney before moving up to the marathon. On the women’s side, the two most prominent names are expected to be US sprinter Marion Jones and Romania’s middle-distance phenomenon Gabriela Szabo. Jones has shown that she is the women most likely to eclipse the decade-old world records of the late Florence Griffiths-Joyner in the women’s 100 and 200 metres.She is also a formidable, if erratic, long jumper. If she is chosen to represent the USA in both relays, she could be in contention for five golds. Szabo is almost as versatile across the distances as her male counterpart Gebselassie. In 1999 she had an unbeaten season on the way to becoming the first person to notch up more than a million dollars in prize money. Even Szabo’s income pales by comparison to that enjoyed by the tennis players and basketball players, who will not only be in Sydney but also enjoying the limelight beyond the Olympic arena. There is little love lost between US tennis stars Pete Sampras and Andre Aggasi but their enduring rivalry has made men’s tennis an enthralling spectacle once again, after several years of domination by Sampras. However, as the pair edge towards their 30s, younger men are starting to encroach on their territory, notably Russia’s Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Martina Hingis’ top ranking is being strongly challenged by US players, Lindsay Davenport and the charismatic Williams sisters, Venus and Serena. They will do battle on a regular basis around the world but the clashes that really matter will be at the French Open in May, Wimbledon in July and the US Open in August. In basketball, another Dream Team of American multi-million-aires will pull on US jerseys in Sydney. Michael Jordan will be no more than a fond memory by Sydney but the spate of new names and characters trying to fill his void, such as Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant, are expected to dominate the best of the world as US teams have done since professionals were admitted to the Olympics in 1992. At home, in the National Basketball Association, the decade of dominance by the Jordan-led Chicago bulls has come to an end and teams such as the Portland Trailblazers and Miami Heat are emerging as contenders to lift their first ever NBA crown. Beyond the Olympics, other professional sports face a flurry of change. Golf is witnessing a changing of the guard.Tiger woods has been at the top of his profession for a couple of years but is being challenged by an even younger rival, Spain’s Sergio Garcia. Last year, Woods took seven Professional Golfers Association titles, including the US Open, and was part of the victorious American Ryder Cup team, banking more than $6 million in prize money - nearly twice as much as his nearest challenger and US compatriot David Duval. However the teenage Garcia showed enough class with his two victories and numerous high placings to show that Woods’days as an unmolested world number one may be limited. US cyclist Lance Armstrong won many people’s vote as the sports personality of 1999 for his courageous victory in the Tour de France only a few years after being treated for testicular cancer. When Armstrong defends his title in July, Italy’s Marco Pantini will be out to regain the yellow jersey going into Paris, which he won in 1998 only to be put out of action for half of 1999 on suspicion of using performance-enhancing drugs. Also among the main protagonists during the three- week long voyage around France could be Germany’s Jan Ullrich, the 1997 Tour de France winner, who made a remarkable comeback to win the 1999 Tour of Spain. In formula one motor racing, the old rivalry between Finland’s Mika Hakkinen and Germany’s Michael Schumacher will be revived from the first Grand Prix of the season, in Australia in March. Hakkinen took last year’s title for the second successive year, but only by two points from Ferrari’s Eddie Irvine. But Schummacher, who also drives a Ferrari missed much of the season with a broken leg and has indicated he will do everything in his power to thwart Hakkinen becoming the first driver to win three consecutive Formula One world championships since the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio in 1956. —Gemini
News |
Steps needed to put cricket on
rails The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the administrative authority which runs the game of cricket in the country, is currently the richest sports organisation and is totally free from official interference as it does not draw any grant-in-aid from the government. From a modest beginning, it owes its current financial soundness to former President M.A. Chidambaram. Of course, the last decade has seen the era of aggressive marketing brought in by the duo of former BCCI President I.S. Bindra of Punjab and the present ICC President Jagmohan Dalmia of West Bengal. Both complimented each other as the President and the secretary of the board and brought in a sea change not only in the fortunate of the players but filled the coffers of the board. Their efforts to make the game global met with resounding success and also ensured the presidentship of International Cricket Council coming India’s way with Jagmohan Dalmia bagging the post. But like all good things, the romance of Bindra and Dalmia came to a premature end and it started telling on the game. Lately, the BCCI has become a haven for intrigues and sycophancy. The politics of the cricket boardroom has assumed larger-than-life proportion and it is unfolded every year. Its direct fallout is on the game. Doles in the form of managership for tours abroad, chairmanship of key administrative committees, appointment of observers for international matches and allotment of key fixtures are a few of the inducements offered to keep the flock together. This in turn tells on the game of cricket as merit is overlooked in most of the key appointments in a bid to satisfy the supporters. The BCCI is working overtime to fill its coffers by organising cricket tours abroad and at home without giving any time to the players to regroup and rejuvenate after taking series. The lure of big money is driving the administrators to fix as many tours as possible and it is showing in the pathetic performance of the team on their tours abroad. The good display at home has been due to the slow tracks prepared at the behest of the board to keep the hysterical home crowds in a happier frame of mind. This has led to a near drought of fast bowlers as no youngster wants to toil on the unresponsive tracks in domestic cricket without visible success which can easily launch him into the national squad. There have just been two exceptions in the last two decades, Kapil Dev and Javagal Srinath. The BCCI is hardly paying any attention to the improvement of game in the domestic circuit and it has not been made mandatory for the players to play domestic cricket as a prelude to their donning the Indian colours. In the ongoing Challenger Trophy at Ahmedabad, Sachin, Saurav and Srinath have already opted out. They, of course, cannot be blamed as they are resting after a grueling series Down Under. In their absence, however, the mettle of the youngster would not be properly tested. The board has to take steps to make domestic cricket more lucrative in the wake of the bonanzas offered by sponsors for international matches. Sponsors should be made to strike a deal for international and domestic matches and then the resultant income should be distributed rationally between the Test players and the state players and that too should be fairly sub-divided on the basis of performance. This would enable healthy competition amongst players and would in fact amount to accountability. The board should also revise the domestic cricket format and put different associations on a two-tier system depending on their relative strengths. Another key area in which our administrators are failing right now is the formation of the national selection committee, both at the senior and the junior levels. The names of the selectors are proposed by the respective zones. Depending upon the clout the individual has with the powers, the nominations to the selection committee are clinched. The selectors, after been nominated to the selection committee, are always looking homeward to their benefactors while selecting the national squad, which most of the time is picked on the basis of regional consideration, even if certain players in spite being good do not fit into the scheme of things. This being the case, we do not carry a team that is best suited to deliver, the biggest casualty being physical fitness. In today’s competitive cricket there is no room for an accomplished player who is a liability on the field. While all other teams are giving top priority to physical fitness and fielding acumen, this trait happens to be our lowest priority. Physical trainers in
domestic circuits for all the associations should be
appointed on regular basis and the board should get
reports on the physical fitness of all the players
slotted for national duty. A long term plan should be
chalked out for extensive coaching and physical
conditioning so that there is a continuous input for the
national squad. The administrators, selectors and the
players have to change their mind-set. The players have
to be more positive in their approach and consistent in
their performance. The administrators have to provide the
right input so that Indian cricket can be put back on
rails and the disenchanted Indian fans are given
something to cheer about. It is not a very difficult task
but it is quite challenging. The ball is in the court of
the cricket administrators and the Indian public would be
watching with keen interest if the cricket barons can
play it that way. |
by K. R. Wadhwaney THE Delhi Golf Club’s Committee of Millennium’ with Manmohan Singh (Bibloo) as captain, has drawn an ambitious plan in the year of its golden jubilee to provide further thrust to golf and golfers, professionals and amateurs. While emphasising on reducing overhead expenses and slashing of staff, Bibloo in his letter has suggested for involving of ‘as many members as possible’ in the governance and the activities of the club which, according to the captain, requires professionalism more than any thing else. While assuring that the next general meeting will be held on schedule in September, the captain says: “.... Democracy can be a bruising but necessary evil at the committee level. Can we not evolve a system where we can elect a president unanimously? I promise to try”. The captain has sent a detailed questionnaire to all members with an underlying desire to help improve functioning of the club on course and outside the course. The response from the members has not been as encouraging as it should have been, but the captain and his committee are of the firm belief that the course and club will be run with greater efficiency than has been the case so for. The Amateur Golf Championship of India, which began in 1892 at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club, has already began at the DGC course. The event is 108 years old but it is rated as the 99th championship. For nine years in between, the contest could not be held because of World Wars I and II. The contest was initially held at Calcutta until 1958 and then it started rotating between Calcutta and Delhi. Thereafter, other centres staged the meet at Mumbai and Bangalore. Last year it was held at Chandigarh. The first Indian to win the title was the late Mohinder Bal. That was in 1949. The record is shared by Ashok Malik, Vikramjit Singh and late P.G. Sethi (Biloo). Each one of them has won the title five times. While every one is happy at the functioning of the DGC, there are youngsters who feel that they deserve better facilities to help improve their golf. The club organised ‘trick shots’ show by Kevin Compare. He enthralled all present with his magnificent display of tricky shots. The US golfer was jointly sponsored by the Indian Golf Union, DLF Club and DGC. He was provided a fee of $ 11,000. He also organised coaching clinics at various centres. Shalini impresses Delhi’s Shalini Malik gave a fine display in the 83rd All-India Ladies Golf Championship at Bangalore. She fought well before going down to favourite Thuhashini Sevarathnam (Sri Lanka) in the final. Twentyfive-year-old Shalini did not putt well in the final. She seemed a trifle tense and that stood between her and extending the eventual champion. The championship was
well organised and participants had a good word for
organisers. “It was a sheer joy to have played in
Bangalore where the course was extremely nice and
organisers displayed warmth and courtesy”, said the
participants. |
sm
Induct Azhar, Mongia into team THE perfect solution to problems of Indian cricket is removal of Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar from their posts.They should be replaced by K. Srikhanth and Ajay Jadeja. Moreover, the hardworking and honest Mohammed Azharuddin and the talented Nayan Mongia should be included into the team. I don’t understand how Sachin and Kapil feel that Azhar is not fit to be in the team. It was Azhar who helped Sachin in many ways. It was Azhar who had stood by Kapil to enable him to overhaul the world record for maximum number of wickets Syed Saleem Disastrous tour The Indian cricket team has ended its disastrous tour of Australia by losing nine official matches out of 10, including three Test matches, which is a record by itself. The reason was their aversion to play fast bowlers and the inclusion of inexperienced newcomers like S. Dighe, J. Martin and D. Gandhi. To regain their lost pride, all slow home pitches should be replaced by those that help the fast bowlers. A battery of at least five genuine fast bowlers should to be raised under the strict guidance and coaching of Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar should be replaced as captain by some other competent player. MOHINDER SINGH II The Indian cricket team lost all but one match in Australia. This was a dismal performance and one of the worst in several years. However, there is no need to lose heart and feel discouraged. There are matches still to be played — and won. Our players have all the skill and stamina to do as well as anyone else, even better. What they lack is fire in the belly and a crusader’s spirit. S.C. KAPOOR III India’s cricket tour to Australia has been disappointing. In the Test series we lost 0-3 and in the one-day series we lost all the matches except one against Pakistan. The Indian team in which many new faces played could not perform well. Indian skipper Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Kumble and other senior players failed to perform according to their reputation. Bad fielding, bowling and batting were among the main reasons behind our poor performance. When our senior players did nothing what can we expect from newcomers like Martin, Laxman, Dighe and Mohanty ? Nevertheless the under-19 cricket team has won the under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka. This provided some relief to India. Bhupender Gusain IV The recent thrashing of India and Pakistan by Australia will be remembered for a long time. It has been clearly proved that cricket is not a game of chance but the game for the gutsy, spirited and alert players. Indian cricketers considered heroes on home soil proved big flops on Australian pitches. M.S. SODHI |
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