WITH FIFA president Sepp Blatter making a visit to promote soccer in India the situation of the beautiful game in Gujarat seems to be heading nowhere. According to a close source in All India Football Federtaion, Gujarat is not a part of the Vision India Project for coming 5-6 years.
But the news seems to be not surprising at all as there is hardly any grass root level present in the Gujarat as far as the soccer is concerned. “In the current Vision India project Tamil Nadu and Kerala have been identified after Manipur and Delhi. Gujarat will not be a part of the project in coming years. And to be true it will not be a part AIFF’s project for coming 5-6 years. AIFF will only take an initiative if they see that there is some talent present there,” the close source told this reporter over the phone.
He further added that, “The districts should be more active. There should be state level championships and the the various districts should conduct inter-district tourney. Moreover there should be school championships happening at regular intervals and summer coaching camp should be held at every school.”
Agreeing with the close source was the FIFA referee for Gujarat State, Dinesh Madhvan Nair who believes that the school should take more initiative if the soccer has to be promoted. “The school doesn’t take interest in the sport. There are hardly three or four schools where football is being played. Until and unless we have boys playing the field we cannot expect any kind of project coming to Gujarat,” Dinesh said.
Justifying Dinesh’s statement was secretary of Gujarat State Football Association AUK Nair, who told this correspondent over the phone that, “the parents don’t want their children to come and play soccer. District associations are completely inactive. We cannot come under the Vision India project as their is no infrastructure present here. The condition of the grounds is very poor and we don’t have our own ground where we can have camps and practice.”
Agreed that, there is no infrastructure but why are there not many summer coaching camps being held at various schools and Dinesh is quick to respond back. “We have coaching camps but there is hardly any turnover for the camps also. Children are more inclined towards sport like cricket and tennis.”
AUK Nair gave us the biggest setback when he revealed that there was hardly any turnover for the U-19 national camp. “In the U-19 camps we don’t have any players so how can we build a team and how can we improve the standard of sport in the state,” Nair said.
Courtesy : Expressindia.com
But the news seems to be not surprising at all as there is hardly any grass root level present in the Gujarat as far as the soccer is concerned. “In the current Vision India project Tamil Nadu and Kerala have been identified after Manipur and Delhi. Gujarat will not be a part of the project in coming years. And to be true it will not be a part AIFF’s project for coming 5-6 years. AIFF will only take an initiative if they see that there is some talent present there,” the close source told this reporter over the phone.
He further added that, “The districts should be more active. There should be state level championships and the the various districts should conduct inter-district tourney. Moreover there should be school championships happening at regular intervals and summer coaching camp should be held at every school.”
Agreeing with the close source was the FIFA referee for Gujarat State, Dinesh Madhvan Nair who believes that the school should take more initiative if the soccer has to be promoted. “The school doesn’t take interest in the sport. There are hardly three or four schools where football is being played. Until and unless we have boys playing the field we cannot expect any kind of project coming to Gujarat,” Dinesh said.
Justifying Dinesh’s statement was secretary of Gujarat State Football Association AUK Nair, who told this correspondent over the phone that, “the parents don’t want their children to come and play soccer. District associations are completely inactive. We cannot come under the Vision India project as their is no infrastructure present here. The condition of the grounds is very poor and we don’t have our own ground where we can have camps and practice.”
Agreed that, there is no infrastructure but why are there not many summer coaching camps being held at various schools and Dinesh is quick to respond back. “We have coaching camps but there is hardly any turnover for the camps also. Children are more inclined towards sport like cricket and tennis.”
AUK Nair gave us the biggest setback when he revealed that there was hardly any turnover for the U-19 national camp. “In the U-19 camps we don’t have any players so how can we build a team and how can we improve the standard of sport in the state,” Nair said.
Courtesy : Expressindia.com