No silver lining
The Hindu : Is it a case of “old wine in new bottle”? Hope not. The Bangalore District Football Association (BDFA) under the new committee is faced with teething problems, more so due to the apathy shown towards the game by the earlier committees.
The last decade has seen football in Karnataka and particularly Bangalore, go into a slump and officialdom is largely to be blamed for it. The overall scenario of football in the country, despite the recent Nehru trophy triumph, is nothing to write home about. India continues to languish amongst the 140’s in the FIFA rankings.
The ongoing Durand Cup wherein the “big three” from Kolkata stayed away as the IFA Shield was in progress there, is a pointer to that effect.
Indian Telephone Industries (ITI) and Hindustan Aeronautics Sports Club (HASC) the two big names carried the hopes of the State football followers, to bring back the lost glory.
Sadly ITI wound up without a whimper after “dilly-dallying” for a few seasons in the elite National Football League (NFL). HASC since have been in and out.
All this stemmed from the fact that there was no proper structure or system in place back home. Local players moved out for “greener-pastures” and made it big with the likes of Carlton Chapman and Shanmugam Venkatesh even leading the national sides for a couple of seasons. But the men who matter did not learn and failed to open their eyes to the ground reality.
BDFA conducts league in three divisions with nearly 25-28 teams in the fray. But when it comes to team selections there is little “futuristic” thinking and no headway made in the recent past. But most appalling is the state of the ground and the stadium itself!
With increased number of teams in the Super Division, one fathomed a glimmer of hope. But sadly, the progress has stuttered. If more the merrier was the bottom line and “from quantity…More
