Football meet draws flak

Deepankar Sharda

Chandigarh, April 23

The much-hyped Baby League Football Carnival didn’t live up to its expectations. The carnival, which was organised by the Chandigarh Football Association (CFA) to promote football in Chandigarh, witnessed participation of academies from neighbouring states of Punjab.

Tall claims of making this event a carnival amid games, food and music also fell flat completely.

“This event should have been organised in terms of promoting football among local teams. A girls’ team playing against a boys’ team is something not commonly seen everywhere at such platforms,” said one of the coaches on condition of anonymity.

“During the morning session, two matches were organised simultaneously on a same ground, which was divided into two fields. Interference from one playing to another kept on disturbing the field,” he further said.

This is not the first time that the CFA had organised Baby Football League in Chandigarh. The tournament is said to have been conducted under the aegis of the All-India Football Federation (AIFF). However, nowhere in the AIFF rule book it has been mentioned to complete such leagues in two days, stated another coach.

“It could have been organised in a better manner in terms of charging Rs. 300 from each player. The venue of the competition was confirmed to the participants on the last minute,” said another coach.

“The entry to the tournament was open for all, including teams from the tricity and Punjab. Due to the pandemic, children were bound to sit at home. By organising this event, we wanted to give them a platform to play. Due to non approval from the UT Administration, we failed to provide facilities or put food stalls. Nevertheless, we are expecting to get permission tomorrow. Meanwhile, drinking water was provided after initial delay today,” said KP Singh, president of the CFA.

Kids-R-Kids log win

In the boys’ U-12 category, Kids-R-Kids defeated Chandigarh Tigers (2-0). DFA beat Team Unite (1-0), SFA defeated Doon Mohali (4-3), Nalagarh Blue ousted DIS (4-1), Namdhari-B defeated Footworks (3-0), GNPS outplayed Super Strikers (3-0) and St Xavier’s and SFA-B drew (1-1). In the boys’ U-10 category, Strawberry Team A defeated TJFA (2-0), Simply Soccer defeated SSA (2-1) and St Stephen’s School beat Dikshant (2-1). In the U-8 category, Dikshant defeated GNPS (5-0), GNPS played (1-1) draw against St Joseph’s, SFA beat Footwars (2-0) and DPS Karnal beat Cheetas (1-0).