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

I-League 2nd Division Football

Match at Nehru Stadium Under Floodlights:
Guwahati, Apr 29: The high mastlights in the Nehru Stadium will glow again for the final round matches of the ongoing ONGC second division I-league football tournament on May 1 and 4.
Disclosing this, Assam Football Association (AFA) sources said the lights, which failed because of a technical snag on the inaugural day (April 17), would be tested again on Wednesday. If they work properly, the second matches of May 1 and 4 would be held at Nehru Stadium under floodlights.
The matches were scheduled to be played at Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium from 3.15 pm simultaneously with another match at Nehru Stadium on the two dates.
Breaking the Assam State Electricity Board’s silence over the power failure fiasco on April 17, board official Debashish Bose said there was no major fault. “It was a minor snag caused by shortage of power supply,” he said.
“Though we worked from April 12 to 16 to repair the damages and tested the lights successfully twice, a minor snag developed after 45 minutes of service. There can be a power interruption because of the slightest defect even in the overhead transmission lines. We will test the lights late this evening and tomorrow and if we succeed, it will be upon the tournament committee to decide whether they hold it under lights or during the day,” Bose said.
He, however, added that the electricity board could not guarantee uninterrupted power supply “keeping in view the shortage of supply as well as the weather conditions when thunderstorms have been regular almost every night”.
The matches on May 1 and 4 will assume significance in view of being crucial ties involving Indian Bank, Vasco SC and Pune FC who will have to fight it out for a berth in the first division I-league.
Meanwhile, AFA sources said Chirag United have objected to playing against Mumbai FC on May 4 under floodlights. The sources, not wishing to be quoted, said the Calcutta team had signed in the fixture rescheduling last evening but later raised objection before the tournament officials. Source: The Telegraph