Amid tug of war, UPFS to meet sans its chief in Varanasi today
LUCKNOW: A tug of war seems to have been continuing in the Uttar Pradesh Football Sangh (UPFS) as most of its officials, excluding the president, are all set to meet in Varanasi on Tuesday to review the situation before apprising the All India Football Federation (AIFF) of the latest changes in the state body even though there is a strong resentment against them.
If sources are to be believed, all the UPFS ‘core group’ has asked all its 18 regional and few district secretaries across the state to bring their letterheads and stamps with them at the meeting as a ‘consent’ letter from all the units would finally be sent to the AIFF about the ‘decisions’ to be made at meeting.
After the death of UPFS’ long standing secretary-general Mohd Shamsuddin a few months ago, the post is vacant officially and the ‘core group’ is adamant to let Shamsuddin’s son Mohd Shahid to be elevated to the post much before the annual general meeting, which is scheduled to elect the new set of office-bearers in December.
“We have already chosen Shahid as our new secretary for the time being and the tomorrow’s meeting is to seek the
approval of all our colleagues in the districts in the state,” a UPFS insider said on condition of anonymity on Monday. “Let him (Shahid) run the show till December when we go for final election process,” he added.
He, however, said one of the senior vice-presidents, who is currently located in Varanasi, has been requested to preside over the Tuesday’s meeting scheduled to be held at a hotel in Raja Bazar. “The UPFS constitution (unlike the AIFF) gives all the rights to secretary and we have limited rights for the president
and even if he is not around the meeting, it makes no big difference to us.”
Other than the UPFS ‘core group, a few other groups, including the ones at Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Kanpur and Lucknow, have reportedly been trying their best to overpower the present lot of the UPFS, which they believe have destroyed the culture of the game in the state and Uttar Pradesh has almost lost its existence in the domestic circuit.
“Just a few years back, our junior team was scratched from the nationals without playing even a single match as most of the players were found overage but no one among the concerned people dared to speak against the corrupt system in the sporting body,” said a senior footballer. “Even our UP Sports Directorate is tight-lipped over all the happenings in the UPFS despite knowing everything.”
“Nothing is going to change in the UPFS unless all the good people come together at one platform and support the president, who is an avid football lover,” said a former junior international, preferring anonymity.
“We have the support of people who really think about the development of the football and the footballers but we need to have the support of the UPFS boss before staking claim at the AIFF for a better alternate.”
Former India goalkeeper Naseem Akhtar has already criticised the UPFS for its non-professional approach since long. “The UPFS and the UP Sports Directorate are hand in glove and I have been fighting against this nexus since long,” Akhtar said on Monday, adding, “Till the fresh elections in December, sports directorate must stop all its support to the UPFS.”
Despite repeated efforts, there was no response from UPFS’s joint secretary Mohd Shahid.