A vision of Indian football!
Ramu Sharma
The New Year has been a great one for Indian football if the hype generated during the six-day “Vision Asia” project in Delhi has to be unveiled with all its trappings. Indian football has never had it so good. Mr Peter Velapan, general secretary of the Asian Football Confederation reportedly dubbed the country as “a sleeping giant” among football playing nations thereby endowing it with unlimited powers to become a world leader in the game.

Commemorating a legend
Amardeep Bhattal
“Let there be no inscription upon my tomb. Let no man write my epitaph. Let my character and motives repose in obscurity and peace, till other times and other men can do them justice”. Robert Emmet’s words dating back to 1803 perhaps reflect the innate qualities of visionaries, usually legends in their lifetimes who have inspired generations.

A vision of Indian football!
Ramu Sharma

The New Year has been a great one for Indian football if the hype generated during the six-day “Vision Asia” project in Delhi has to be unveiled with all its trappings. Indian football has never had it so good. Mr Peter Velapan, general secretary of the Asian Football Confederation reportedly dubbed the country as “a sleeping giant” among football playing nations thereby endowing it with unlimited powers to become a world leader in the game. There were other such complimentary feelings voiced during the project and, finally to ensure continuation of the great hope for the game in India, there was the foundation stone ceremony of the Football House at Dwaraka (Delhi) which is to be the headquarters of the All-India Football Federation. Why everything should be in Delhi is a question no one is willing to answer!

If words could make India happy, like those spoken at the Vision Asia seminar then Indian football is on the make. But Mr Velappan did not mince words to the contrary when direct questions were asked. He was not very happy with the progress made in India and the AIFF’s complaints of lack of funds was not the concern of the Asian Football Confederation. And it is not as if the international federation (FIFA) does not help. It offers technical expertise and also provides $250,000 annually. The AFC also chips in. It is up to the AIFF to take care of the rest.

Thus in a matter of one year the AFC has held the Vision India and Vision Asia project seminars and being host India should benefit. But will it? India with its ever increasing population can be termed great but never in the sense of good football standards. The country had a fairly decent standard till around the mid-seventies. After that there has been no check on the slide. Imported players do help but not to the extent expected. In fact their presence merely emphasizes the vast difference in the playing standards.

For all the efforts of the FIFA, AFC and AIFF, the standard of the game in India has not improved. More importantly the public too appears to have lost interest, if one has to go by attendance at the Stadiums. There has to be some other explanation.

Football is popular, perhaps the most popular game in India but only at the club level. Thus Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, Mohammedan Sporting, JCT Mills or clubs from Goa, Mumbai and Kerala, all make for big names and draw huge crowds. But there is no team with label “India” involved at any time. This is perhaps the biggest difference between hockey, cricket and football. Football does not project an all India image.

Indian hockey is known because it is regularly competing in various international tournaments. The same goes for cricket which is always in the news. And cricket certainly generates money at international level. No game has any potential to make money at domestic level, not even cricket. Everything has to be packaged as India.

And football to be projected with the India tag will take quite some effort. Not only has the mindset to be changed at the club level but something drastic is needed to lift the standard of the game so as to be acceptable at the international level. The All-India Football Federation can at best revamp the domestic set-up. It has no means or perhaps lacks the requisite motivation to build Indian football to international requirements. The AIFF’s plea of lack of money cannot be accepted. It is a confession of failure. Indian football does not need money from outside. There is plenty of it at home. It is only a question of looking for it in the right direction. If corporate houses can own clubs then why not persuade them to contribute towards a national cause?

That business houses are still interested in the game is reflected in the news of an attempt to launch another professional club in Kerala. According to reports a group of businessmen led by the President of the Kerala Chamber of Commerce, Mr Liaqat Ali, propose to float another professional club from Kochi, the previous one, FC Kochi, having folded up. The team is expected to be in action in the local league in the new season. The Kerala businessmen have obviously been distressed by the fact that there was no team from the state in the current national league.

If the absence of a team from the state in the NFL has become the motivating factor in this case then surely the lack of standard at the national level should be the motivating factor for a big build-up at the highest level. It is for the AIFF to work on this line.

Commemorating a legend
Amardeep Bhattal

“Let there be no inscription upon my tomb. Let no man write my epitaph. Let my character and motives repose in obscurity and peace, till other times and other men can do them justice”. Robert Emmet’s words dating back to 1803 perhaps reflect the innate qualities of visionaries, usually legends in their lifetimes who have inspired generations.

And for thousands of Punjabis, particularly from Mahilpur, settled in India and abroad, the late Principal Harbhajan Singh remains a beacon of inspiration through his ideals. His contribution in making Mahilpur a football centre as well as a seat of higher learning remains unparalleled and unmatched.

Born at Mahilpur on January 9,1891, to Tehsildar Natha Singh Bains and Mrs Kishan Kaur, Principal Harbhajan Singh died issueless in1962. But in a career spanning four decades, he achieved what many could only dream of, without craving for materialistic gains. His missionary zeal and dedication to the cause of education and sports can be gauged from the fact that he did not draw a single rupee as salary while discharging his duties as honorary Principal of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College, Mahilpur, for 15 years until shortly before his death in 1962. Moreover, he donated his life’s earnings and property to the college after steering the institution to a position of eminence .Thus from a remote and obscure village in Hoshiarpur district, Mahilpur acquired the status of not only a prominent educational centre but also as a nursery of football. No wonder, eminent Army officers, bureaucrats and footballers of Punjab, both past and present, have been indebted to Principal Harbhajan Singh for their illustrious careers. They include independent India’s first Defence Minister, Mr Baldev Singh, the late Lieut-Gen PS Gyani, Lieut-Gen KS Gill, Lieut-Gen NS Bal, Maj-Gen Gian Singh, Col Surinder Singh Bains, former Olympian Jarnail Singh, Justice Ajit Singh Bains, former PSEB Engineer-in-Chief Harbans Singh Bains, who is also president of the Principal Harbhajan Singh Sporting Club, and many more.

Having lost his father in childhood, Harbhajan Singh grew up under the watchful eyes of his uncle, Mr Dalip Singh, and tutor, Munshi Fateh Singh who imbibed in him the qualities of the head and heart. Quick in learning, the young Harbhajan was awarded scholarships for the fifth and eighth standard examinations which he passed from the District Board Vernacular Middle School. Later he did his matriculation from DAV High School, Hoshiarpur, in 1911 and FA from Khalsa College, Amritsar. For graduation, he shifted to DAV College, Lahore, from where he passed his BA examination in 1915. Later, having done BT from Government Central Training College, Lahore, he joined as Headmaster at Khalsa High School, Ambala. Later he served as Headmaster at Malwa High School, Ludhiana for two years, and Khalsa High School, Kharar, for a year before taking over as Headmaster at Khalsa High School, Mahilpur. Within a short span, the Mahilpur school earned statewide recognition in education and sports. Students from far and near sought admission and the institution earned a name in disciplines like football, tug-of-war, and hockey with Principal Harbhajan Singh personally supervising practice sessions.

In the early forties the idea to set up a degree college caught the fancy of Principal Harbhajan Singh and the dream took concrete shape in 1946 when he paid a guarantee money of Rs 85,000 to Panjab University from his own savings and was later made founder Principal, the post which he held until shortly before his death.

When Principal Harbhajan Singh breathed his last on August 16,1962, a meeting of grief-stricken admirers having decided to perpetuate his memory resolved to constitute a panel to carry forward his mission. Accordingly, a committee was constituted which decided to start the Principal Harbhajan Singh Memorial Football Tournament on an annual basis. The first edition of the tournament was organised in October-November, 1962, and the practice continued till 1965.

In 1966, the Harbhajan Sporting Club came into existence which assumed responsibility for conducting the tournament. Dr Narinder Pal was the founder president of the club. Ever since there has been interruption and increased interest of NRIs has given the tournament further boost. The 42nd edition of the tournament currently under way at Mahilpur offers over Rs 1 lakh in prize money. Among the sponsors are the Principal Harbhajan Singh Educational and Sports Society, Vancouver, and the Principal Harbhajan Singh Memorial Trust also based in Canada. The present organising committee, includes Arjuna awardee Gurdev Singh, Col Surinder Singh Bains, Mr Raghbir Singh Gill, Mr Gurmail Singh Gill, and Mr Satwant Singh. Football coach Ali Hassan is its general-secretary. Interestingly, the veteran Dr Chanan Singh Bains, who was appointed treasurer in 1962, continues in the same capacity and is among the scorers of soccer admirers who keenly look forward to the event every year while offering guidance and inspiration — a commemoration indeed of a legend who led by example.

The 42nd Principal Harbhajan Singh Memorial Football Tournament is currently being played at Mahilpur.