Local Goa News

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Goa left out of All India football federation for first time since 1984

PANAJI: As if Goa's top clubs - Salgaocar FC, Dempo Sports Club and Sporting Clube de Goa - pulling out of the I-League in protest against AIFF's proposed restructuring of Indian football was not enough, Goan football has been left to swallow another bitter pill: the state will not have a representative in the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for the first time since 1984.
The AIFF has finalised its executive committee for 2016-2020, officially confirming that its relationship with Goa is now beyond repair.

According to a communication sent to all state associations by general secretary Kushal Das, there are only 17 nominations for the 17 available posts and Returning Officer Justice BC Kandpal (Retd) will announce the unanimously selected committee at the annual general body meeting on December 21.
As expected, Praful Patel will continue as president for a third term; four of the existing vice-presidents will also take their seats and the only one left out is Shrinivas Dempo, Goa's representative at the federation for the past four years.
The former Goa Football Association (GFA) president cannot be nominated to the post as he is no longer involved with the association, now led by Elvis Gomes. But instead of admitting the existing GFA president into its fold - like the previous three terms - the AIFF chose to ignore Goa's claim and handed over the prized spot from west zone to Rajasthan FA president Manvendra Singh.
Interestingly, the Rajasthan FA was defunct since 2008 and elections to the new committee were held only three months ago.
Worse still, Goa does not even have a representative in the executive committee as Patel preferred candidates from Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, both with little or no football activities, to complete the west zone quota.
"The AIFF administrative structure has lost its democratic touch and its all insider trading (now). They want yes men (in the AIFF) and since we do not fit into that category, they have ensured we are left out," said GFA president Elvis Gomes.
Goa's cold-shoulder by the AIFF is likely to create complications in election-bound Goa where the federation runs several academies besides making the state a base for India's preparations for the under-17 World Cup next year.
"This is a bigger loss for Indian football," said Gomes.
Goa is the only state to have accorded football a state sport status, thanks to a vibrant football culture which sees the GFA organize a four-tier senior league along with age group competitions from under-14 to under-20. Over six thousand players are registered with GFA and more than a thousand official matches are organized, apart from hundreds of hugely-popular Inter-Village matches.
AIFF executive committee for 2016-2020: President: Praful Patel (Maharashtra); Vice-presidents: Subhash Chopra (Delhi), Subrata Dutta (Bengal), Manvendra Singh (Rajasthan), KMI Mather (Kerala), Larsing Ming (Meghalaya); Treasurer: ZA Thakur (Jammu & Kashmir); Members: Deepak Kumar (Punjab), Deepak Sharma (Himachal Pradesh), Ghulam Rabbani (Jharkhand), Sanjay Behera (Odisha), AR Dev (Madhya Pradesh), Gulab Chauhan (Gujarat), AR Khaleel (Karnataka), Jessiah Villavarayar (Tamil Nadu), Lalninghinglova Hmar (Mizoram) HN Brahma (Assam).
GOANS IN AIFF SINCE 1984
1984-1996: Vilas Sardesai (vice-president)
1996-2000: Alberto Colaco (member)
2000-2004: Alberto Colaco (secretary)
2004-2010: Alberto Colaco (general secretary)
2004-2008: Shivanand Salgaocar (treasurer)
2008-2010: Joaquim Alemao (member)
2010-2012: Joaquim Alemao (vice-president)
2012-2016: Shrinivas Dempo (vice president)

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