INDIA'S National Football League (NFL), which culminated dramatically in East Bengal's maiden
title triumph on April 30, has been found wanting in several key aspects, like organisation, marketing, publicity, itinerary
and, above all, lack of a sponsor.
"Football-wise it was the best league, with a lot of twists and turns thrown in for good measure, but it left a lot to be
desired on the organisational front," said a football expert, on condition of anonymity. "Among other hiccups, the league was
interrupted for over a month by the Millennium Cup, which itself was a total failure," the expert added.
The NFL was further affected on two counts - by a unique All-India Football Federation (AIFF) rule that allowed a maximum
of three players to be taken from one club for national duty, and then which the pre-World Cup qualifiers are currently
playing.
The first rule hit East Bengal the most, especially in the final phase of the tournament, when all its three first-choice
defenders - Deepak Mondal, Surkumar Singh and Rattan Singh - were either called for the national camp or the pre-World Cup
qualifiers.
But the glamorous Kolkata outfit rallied brilliantly to pip Mohun Bagan by a solitary point (46-45 in 22 matches) to run
away with its first title in five years.
The biggest handicap for the AIFF was the absence of a sponsor for the third consecutive year. After the Philips team,
which withdrew prematurely at the end of the second edition in 1997-98, the AIFF, for some inexplicable reason, has been
unable to find a sponsor. Philips was brought in to sponsor the new concept in Indian football in 1997-98 by the
International Management Group (IMG), which was contracted to AIFF, but their honeymoon lasted shorter than expected.
Later, the AIFF also fell out with ESPN/STAR Sports, which telecast the league initially, the official reason being the
government's refusal to provide up-linking facilities to the official broadcaster.
Sources say that AIFF president Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi's whimsical ways are responsible for the shortcomings of the
national league. "There is undue secrecy about every decision that he takes," said a source. "And he does not take into
confidence any other federation official. It is widely believed that he is responsible for the AIFF breaking up with the
IMG, ESPN/STAR Sports and also for not finding a sponsor," the source added.
Since IMG, a Mark McKormack company, went out of the scene, the NFL has got little publicity in the media, thanks to
AIFF's lackadaisical ways. The marketing of the league has also been badly hit. Now, a committee has been formed under
industrialist Vijay Mallya, who unsuccessfully challenged Dasmunshi in the annual AIFF elections late last year, which will
try to find a sponsor for the next NFL.
Another gray area has been the telecast of matches. Giving example of the AIFF's Rs. 60 million contract with
Doordarshan for the fifth edition, sources call it a "shady deal." They wonder why the government-run DD would pay so much
money when it did not have time to show all the matches live on its DD Sports channel. "Not more than 20-25 out of 132
matches were shown live on this channel," said a source.
And during the India-Australia cricket Test and one-day international series in February and March the live telecast of
matches was relegated to regional channels like Bengali and Malayalam. The AIFF, however, has not protested the step-motherly
treatment meted out to the game, which further raises doubts about its contract with DD, the source said.
The NFL itinerary and logistics has been a topic of ridicule, as teams have had to crisscross the vast country with very
little or no gap between matches.
"Since the country's weather varies drastically, it becomes a hectic task for a team that has to travel from one part of
the country to another immediately after playing a match. The travelling eventually tells on the players' performances," the
source said.
by Qaiser Mohammad Ali
from the Indian Abroad News Service