Year on, Chandigarh awaits state football championships
Deepankar Sharda
Chandigarh, February 18
While the Chandigarh Football Association (CFA) hosted nearly four licence courses/workshops, it failed to conduct a single state championship for any age group in the past one year.
CFA General House should discuss matter
The General House of the CFA should discuss this matter in its next meeting. If baby leagues, All-India Football Association (AIFF) courses or AIFF tournaments can be organised in Chandigarh in the past one year, then why not state championships? In its last elections, the CFA removed nearly 11 units from affiliation citing no active participation. The action was taken when the CFA itself is doing nothing to promote the sport in Chandigarh. A senior coach
Notably, state championships are important to give exposure to players and help them claim ‘gradation’ benefits. Apart from this, these championships allow the association to select local teams for national championships or preparatory camps in a better environment.
However, the CFA has been sending teams for nationals only after organising open trials and coaching camps. In their latest outing, the local team won two matches, faced defeat in two and played one draw in the 76th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy 2022-23. The team finished at the third position in group VI with seven points, trailing by Punjab (13 points) and Manipur (12 points).
Meanwhile, CFA president KP Singh claimed that state championships would be conducted soon.
“I am not aware of the exact reason, but we will be surely conducting state championships soon,” said Singh.
In 2021, the CFA had conducted a senior state meet, but it was also organised with the support of the ‘Chandigarh Police’ as Senior State Meet Chandigarh Police Shaheed Trophy.
Last September, the CFA had re-elected former office-bearers for a better functioning of the association. However, the state of organising matches remained the same. In previous years, the association had blamed the Covid pandemic for not conducting any tourney.
As per records, the CFA has 21 affiliated units having voting rights for choosing new office-bearers. Out of these units, six are educational institutions.
“The General House of the CFA should discuss this matter in its next meeting. If baby leagues, All-India Football Association (AIFF) courses or AIFF tournaments can be organised in Chandigarh in the past one year, then why not state championships? In its last elections, the CFA removed nearly 11 units from affiliation citing no active participation. The action was taken when the CFA itself is doing nothing to promote the sport in Chandigarh,” said a senior coach seeking anonymity.
“This is not for the first time that the CFA failed to conduct championships. Notably, state championships for the girls’ category are also pending since years,” said another official.
