Opinion Piece

Manipur should be allowed to play as state team in I-League:
The All India Football Federation has decided that the second edition of the I-League will consist of only 12 teams and matches will be played only on weekends from mid-September till March 2009. I-League means India league but sadly the 12 teams represent just four states in India. Eleven of the clubs come from just three states.
There are four from Bengal — Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and the newly promoted Mohammedan Sporting and Chirag United. Goa also has four teams, holders Dempo, runners-up Churchill Brothers, Sporting Clube de Goa and promoted Vasco. The trio from Mumbai are Mahindra United, Air India and 2nd division champions, newly formed Mumbai FC. The 12th team in the fray is north India’s lone representative, JCT.
So the I-League is not really representative of Indian football, as it involves people of only a few cities, barely 10 per cent of India’s estimated population of 1.2 billion. Instead it reflects the fact that club football in India has so far developed only in three states. There are no easy solutions. Promotion of more teams will only make the I-League more lop-sided, as there will be more representatives from Bengal and Goa.
Current Indian captain Baichung Bhutia’s remedy is that states like Manipur and Kerala where the game is popular but lack a tradition of club football should be allowed to play as state teams. Baichung cites the example of Malaysia where state teams like Perak and Selangor feature in the Malaysian league. Of course if Manipur play as a state team it could create a quandary for several of their internationals Surkumar Singh and Renedy Singh who play for East Bengal or Gourmangi Singh (Churchill Brothers).
Baichung’s idea is meritorious as in this way the I-League will be more representative. Both Kerala and Manipur are beneficiaries of the Vision Asia programme and are vigorously promoting football amongst the youth. The state teams of Kerala and Manipur have invariably excelled in the Santosh Trophy as they play with great pride. Another important factor is that both these teams receive massive support in other states also from migrant Keralites and Manipuris. This was evident when the Santosh Trophy was held in Delhi in 2004 and Gurgaon in 2006. Kerala and Manipur received the maximum support.
The I-League is modeled on the J-League in Japan. But in Japan, football has spread all over the country. The J-League first started in 1992 with 10 teams just like the I-League. However the ten teams as can been from the list are from nine different cities, Kashima Antlers, Urawa Red Diamonds, JEF United Ichihara, Verdy Kawasaki, Yokohama Marinos, Yokohama Flügels, Shimizu S-Pulse, Nagoya Grampus Eight, Gamba Osaka, and Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Only Yokohama had two representatives.
The 15th edition of the J-league in 2007 had 18 clubs and they represented 17 different cities, each with their own stadiums. Japan succeeded in spreading the game all over the country because of their visionary approach. The J-League encouraged clubs to promote football or non-football related sports to acquire local sponsorships, and to build good relationship.

This article was written by noted football commentator Novy Kapadia

2010 World Cup Qualifier

India out of World Cup Qualifier:

Oct. 30: India played out a 2-2 draw with Lebanon in the home leg match of the FIFA World Cup 2010 Asian Qualifier Round I played today at PJN Stadium, Fatorda, Goa.

With this draw India are out of FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifiers losing on aggregate 3-6. In the the away leg played in Lebanon, India had lost 1-4.

Sunil Chhetri header gave India the lead in the 30th minute of play and India were leading 1-0 at the breather.

However, Lebanon restored parity in the 74th minute when Mohammed Ghaddar converted a spot kick. Lebanon took 2-1 lead in the 88th minute when Mohammed Ghaddar again scored for Lebanon, but Indian captain Baichung Bhutia restored parity for India in the injury time to make it 2-2.

India were down to 10 men in the 70th minute when goalkeeper Subrata Pal was shown red card and reserved goalkeeper Sandip Nandy had to replace Samir Naik.

The tie was originally scheduled to be played in Chennai on Sunday but was moved to Goa after a downpour left the grounds in the southern Indian city unfit for the game.

The Teams:
India : Subrata Paul, Surkumar Singh, Gourmangi Singh, Mahesh Gawli, Samir Naik (Sandip Nandy), NP Pradeep, Steven Dias , KN Ajayan (Clifford Miranda), Climax Lawrence (Mehraj- ud-din Wadoo), Bhaichung Bhutia, Sunil Chhetri

Lebanon (From): Lary Mehana, Hassan Moghnieh, Paul Rustom, Mootaz Bellah El Jounaidi, Hussain Amin, , Mohammad Ghaddar, Ali Al Saadi, Ramez Dioub, Amer Khan, Mohammad Karhani, Faissal Antar, Mohamad Halawi, Ali Yakub, Abbas Ali Atwi, Mahmoud El Ali, Hussain Hemdani

Officials:
Match Commissioner: Rendeni Gamini (Sri Lanka)
Referee: Salem Mahmoud Mujghef (Jordan); Asst. Referee 1: Fathi Arabati (Jordan) ; Asst Referee-2: Awni Hassouneh (Jordan), Fourth Official:Mohd Yussof Mat Karim (Malaysia)

Hats off to NE sportspersons: the journey ahead

Like a ‘Lotus’ that blossoms above the muddy water, sportspersons from Northeast India have brought laurels for the country despite their troubled native places.

From legendary footballer Dr Talimeren Ao, Olympian weightlifter Kunjarani Devi (whose saluting of the tricolour during the medal ceremony in the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games evoked the supreme emotion of playing for the country), Dingko Singh (who became toast of the country after winning boxing gold in 1998 Bangkok Asian Games) to women world boxing champions Mary C Kom and Jenny Lalremliani, Baichung Bhutia -- football’s Sachin Tendulkar -- and archer Chekroverlu Swuro, the seven sisters (eight with Sikkim) have been the breeding ground for top sportspersons in India.

In football, Dr. Ao was the first captain of independent India's Olympic men’s football team. Now, five Manipuris are in the current national squad and Baichung Bhutia, a Sikkimese, is the captain and perhaps the most famous in history.

In hockey, Manipuris have been in the men’s and women’s national squads. Olympians Neelkamal Singh, Tiken Singh and Thoiba Singh have been household names in their days. Tingongleima Chanu, Suraj Lata Devi, Sanggai Chanu carried the legacy.

Archery has a big presence of northeasterners, from Assam’s world champion Jayant Talukdar, Sikkim’s Olympian Tarundeep Rai and Nagamese Chekroverlo Swuro to the latest Bombayla Devi of Manipur.

In weightlifting, go to any national championship. Half of women’s participants would be from the northeast, especially from Manipur, and they would turn out for other states -- Haryana, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu etc.

Manipuris also dominate the national scene in some other sports like sepaktakraw, fencing, baseball, wushu, canoeing and kayaking, judo etc.

Because of the natural talent the Northeasterners have for sports, I thought it high time that a blog dedicated to sports and sportspersons from this region should come up. That was my raison d’etre of authoring this blog. Hope the blogosphere has a place for these worthy sportspersons who are truly ‘Lotus in the Mud.’

Here, you will find important news/views on sporting events happening in Northeast India, on the performance of sportspersons from the region in events held anywhere inside and outside India, and the profiles of these sportspersons.

Image courtesy: rediff.com; tribuneindia.com