In Indian football, it is ‘grin and bank it’

Since selection replaced election in 2000, there are no stories of cash-lined envelopes or expensive gifts among officials of the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

With the AIFF, through FIFA’s help, putting in place a structured set-up employing some 40 people general secretary and below, lobbying for positions has become redundant. The national team set-up too has been streamlined and pleasing officials by sending them on foreign trips as managers doesn’t happen anymore.

The AIFF is under the Right to Information Act and has a former CBI official to watch and warn about match-fixing. For every match in the Indian Super League (ISL) and the I-League there are no-go areas for team owners and cell phones. There have been reports of how a Malaysian syndicate approached an I-League club to tank games and was rebuffed.

If all this makes you think things are hunky-dory with football administration in India, think again. For one, there is an official fighting a charge of sexual abuse who regularly attends AIFF’s meetings. The AIFF’s stand on it is that the matter is sub-judice.

For another, there continues to be reports of excessive travelling by some employees. At one point, so many flight tickets would be booked that old-timers referred to the federation as a travel agency.

The other major problem is the lack of people with technical knowledge among the decision makers. Maybe that is why the AIFF came out with a grand plan to build academies in 2011 only to scrap it because apparently it is not the federation’s job. Maybe that’s also why an official with no experience of football was given a key position in the national team set-up. And why there was little or no scout- ing till current national coach Stephen Constantine decided to set one up.

True, the AIFF only paid part of his salary but lack of football savvy among officials may have also led to the appointment of a technical director who spent half of every month at home in Europe. About his roadmap for Indian football, done after months of travel across the country, a British official is learnt to have said he could have done it in 45 minutes! An India coach had said he had prepared the same thing but it didn’t have the gloss of someone from Europe.

And it’s not just at the AIFF that things are like this. Club officials are known to cut corners for self-benefit when I-League teams travel and in 2009, at the expense of the state’s exchequer, the natural turf at the Salt Lake stadium was replaced by a plastic pitch. It cost ` 5 crore. Even for a pitch that requires little maintenance, its upkeep was so poor that injuries became commonplace. So, now it’s back to natural grass. Again at significant cost to the state government.

“Grin and bank it” therefore is a phrase that does have an authentic ring to it in football in India. It means take your salary, lobby for a fresh deal when it is due because in the absence of proper evaluation no one will know if you are not good enough.

IF ALL THIS MAKES YOU THINK THINGS ARE HUNKY-DORY IN INDIA, THINK AGAIN. FOR ONE, THERE IS AN OFFICIAL FIGHTING A CHARGE OF SEXUAL ABUSE WHO REGULARLY ATTENDS AIFF’S MEETINGS. THE AIFF’S STAND ON IT IS THAT THE MATTER IS SUB-JUDICE