India under-16 tours expose AIFF’s lack of planning
NEWDELHI: On Tuesday, the India U-16 team played a goalless draw against Spain’s Fundacion Valencia as part of its exposure tour in preparation for the Asian U-16 championship in Malaysia in September.
The result led to many believing that India had held the Valencia U-16 side. Fundacion Valencia are, in fact, a subsidiary of Spanish giants Valencia CF, who founded the ‘filial’ club in 2013.
While All India Football Federation (AIFF) did not specify the age group team India faced, club director Pablo Mantilla said India faced the ‘Cadete A’ team, which comprised players who were 14 and 15 years old. Given the fact that the Fundacion Valencia U-15 side met San Marcelino in the Cadetes Liga Autonómica Cadete, a regional age-group league in Valencia, on Sunday, it is possible their first team didn’t play against India.
The ongoing exposure tours are being funded by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) at a cost reportedly in excess of ~9 crore. Spending so much on one group
WHILE AIFF DID NOT SPECIFY THE AGE GROUP TEAM INDIA FACED, CLUB DIRECTOR PABLO MANTILLA SAID INDIA FACED TEAM OF BOYS IN THE AGE GROUP OF 1415.
seems disproportionate given that the AIFF’s grassroots budget for 2014-17 was ~3.15 crore and coach education was ~1.78 crore.
Last month, the U-16 side beat hosts Hong Kong U-17 4-2 after wins over Taipei and Singapore to win the Jockey Cup, an U-17 meet. None of India’s opponents have qualified for the AFC U-16 Championships and Singapore conceded 17 goals in two of their three games. Now sample this: the same India U-16 side played SAI Kolkata U-18 prior to Hong Kong trip. They lost 1-3 and 0-2.
The India team which left for Spain in March also played in a youth tourney called MIC Cup. They won 1-0 against the U-16 side of IFK Stocksund, a fourth-tier Swedish club. The next day, they defeated a team called ‘BCN FC Australia’ 9-0. They also faced a Barcelona-based community club called Junior CF and lost 3-0.
Kushal Das, AIFF general secretary, had earlier said in a press release that the tours would help the team in its attempt to qualify for the next edition of the U-17 World Cup (in 2019).
Scott O’Donell, former AIFF technical director and ex-AFC director of coach education, questioned the current series of tours. “Who are we playing against? I read the games played in UAE and Qatar were mostly onesided? What is the benefit of those games?” he said in an e-mail.
O’Donell also claimed that the Indian federation could have taken a more competitive and cost-effective route. “I had discussions with AIFF last year about sending the India U-16 team to Queensland, Australia, to play as a team in the U-18 National Premier League (NPL). The team would have had 20-24 competitive games against decent opposition on a weekly basis, and in a similar climate to that of Malaysia.”
The registration fee for playing in the U-18 NPL would have been Aus $20,000 (around ~10 lakh). India would have had to pay for travel and accommodation. Asked about this, Das said the plan was ‘not feasible as per the coach’, but did not elaborate.
Abhishek Yadav, AIFF’s director of national teams, and one of the brains behind the exposure tours, did not respond to this reporter’s question on why the proposal to go to Australia was scrapped.