Beyond The Goal

Mr Praful Patel is a good host. I must admit. Invited by him to attend a dinner at his sprawling kothi in central Delhi, we were happy. Rarely we have seen AIFF presidents hosting journalists and AIFF officials together at their residence. Mr Patel seemed to be an exception. With Bob Houghton firing his salvo against AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco, the get together last week became very important. AIFF members from "Kashmir to Kanyakumari" had assembled right at the power centre on that night. It wasn't surprising to see everybody wore a wry and a forced smile. Most of them were tight-lipped about Bob Houghton's resignation besides the ridiculous manner in which the Federation work is handled by Colaco, who however looked somewhat lost in the crowd. In the darkness of the night, it was becoming difficult to read his face. We also couldn't notice whether his cheek glistened with tears. After all, he is the person who has brought Indian football to such a standstill....

I was visiting my home town almost after a year. Calcutta welcomed me with its sudorific and sticky weather. So much so that my spotless white shirt was almost wet even before I could reach the Jadavpur University campus. Yet, the energy sapping heat couldn't really dampen my spirit as football and Calcutta were on my mind. Thanks to the Valerian Soccer Foundation and Jadavpur University, who had invited me to speak at their International Summit on Football. I was to speak on a topic which has been my forte "Indian Football and It's Uncertain Future". To be honest, I didn't want to sound too negative and cynical in my speech. But the content of Indian football is much of negativities that I couldn't help. Though, till that point of time, Mahindra United still existed as a football team and Indian coach Bob Houghton didn't vent his frustration with his pay package and contract. But a week after my speech at the seminar, I think, I was right. As I write back...