31. August
Bangalore A Division: Hindustan Aeronautics SC 5-0 AGORC - Goals: 1:0 Sunil (30'), 2:0 Dayanand (35'), 3:0,4:0 Jagadish (89'), 5:0 Jayakar (89').
Bangalore A Division: Government Press 0-0 BEL SC - Goals: none.
Delhi Senior Division - Final: Indian Nationals FC 3-2 Hindustan Club - Goals: 0:1 Ossias Fereira (25'), 0:2 Amit Sharma, 1:2,3:2 Cassius Owino (?',85'), 2:2 Ran Vijay Singh - Indian Nationals FC won their second back-to-back Delhi league title!

30. August
Bangalore A Division: Indian Telephone Industries 3-0 United Bangalore - Goals: 1:0,3:0 Kenneth Ugwo (7',54'), 2:0 Yusuf Mohammed (19').
Bangalore A Division: Indian Telephone Industries (Jrs) 3-1 WAP - Goals: 0:1 Jerry (14'), 1:1 Gubindran (30'), 2:1,3:1 Inderjith (74',89').
Calcutta Super Division: East Bengal 1-0 Tollygunge Agragami - Goal: 1:0 Dipendu Biswas (75').
Calcutta Super Division: Mohun Bagan 5-0 Mohammedan Sporting - Goals: 1:0,5:0 R.C. Prakash (1',58'), 2:0 Renedy Singh (12'), 3:0,4:0 Joao dos Santos (34',40').
Guwahati Super Division: Assam Dynamo Club 1-1 Rising XI - Goals: 1:0 Moses Owira (55'), 1:1 Champa Brahma (83').
Mumbai Harwood League: Western Railway 1-1 Union Bank of India

29. August
Goan Professional League: Vasco SC 0-2 Dempo SC - Goals: 0:1 Tejinder Kumar (35'), 0:2 Ram Rai (88').
Guwahati Super Division: Assam State Electricity Board 1-1 Maharana AC

28. August
Bangalore A Division: BEL 2-1 MICO - Goals: 1:0 Suresh Babu (15'), 2:0 Sebastian (25'), 2:1 Dayanand (40').
Bangalore A Division: Government Press 3-1 ITI (Jrs) - Goals: 1:0 Vijay Babu (15'), 1:1 Janakiram [own goal] (30'), 2:1 Vincent (35'), 3:1 Shankar (86').
Calcutta Super Division: East Bengal 3-0 George Telegraph - Goals: 1:0 Sheikh Sanjib (7'), 2:0
Calcutta Super Division: Tollygunge Agragami 2-1 Mohun Bagan - Goals: 0:1 RC Prakash (11'), 1:1 Mohammed Quizar (87'), 2:1 Abdullatif Sekiri (89').
Delhi Senior Division - 2.Leg Semifinal: Indian Nationals FC 0-0 Shahdara FC - Goals: none.
Goan Professional League: Salgaocar SC 4-0 MPT Sports Council - Goals: 1:0,2:0 Bruno Coutinho (34',39'), 3:0 Climax Lawrence (77'), 4:0 Remy Colaco (88').
Guwahati Super Division: Nabajyoti Club 0-0 Rising XI - Goals: none.

Note-1: At least 13 top teams from Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia have confirmed their participation in the Millennium Soccer Cup to be held between January 10 and 25 next year. KS Juneja, managing director, Studio 2001, negotiating with the foreign teams on behalf of the AIFF, said that his company has also been trying to get either Australia or New Zealand and one more team from Europe. Juneja said Chile, Uruguay, Colombia, Jamaica, South Africa, Cameroon, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Japan, Qatar, Baharin, Jordan and Czech Republic has already confirmed their participation in the event. "Never before so many top teams had played together in India. We are also trying to get either Croatia or Scotland or Bulgaria," Juneja, who came here to inspect the facilities at the Saltlake stadium, said. He said the participating teams would be divided into four groups and the matches would played in Goa, Cochin and Calcutta. Juneja said Cameroon soccer star Roger Milla is all set to come here to be present at the inaugural press conference to be held in mid-September. He said efforts were also being made for interaction between Roger Milla and budding soccer players in all the three centres. President of South African Soccer Association Moleti Oliphant will lead a 40-member delegation comprising players, officials and technical people for the tournament. Besides, Colombian soccer star Asprilla would accompany the national side for the mega tournament. Juneja said as per the agreement with the AIFF, the Indian soccer body will get 30 per cent of the total profit made from the tournament. He, however, suggested certain modification in the Saltlake stadium to ensure availability of international facilities for the top teams of the world. He also urged the West Bengal government to waive the amusement tax for the tournament to make the millennium matches more profitbale. "There is no amusement tax for sporting events in Goa and Kerala and we expect same treatment from the West Bengal government," he added.

Note-2: Justice Kalyanjyoti Sengupta of Calcutta High court today directed KN Mour, secretary, AR Khaleel, treasurer, and another official of the AIFF to produce all documents relating to the federation's accounts. The court passed this order on an application made by Ranjit Gupta, secretary, Indian Football Association, Calcutta, alleging irregularities in the federation's accounts involving a large amount of money. The petitioner also alleged that some respondents, including the president of the AIFF, had tried to siphon money out of the Federation's funds. Pratap Chattrejee, MM Chanda appeared for the petitioner while Tilak Bose, Sailendu Rakshit appeared for the secretary of the federation. Hirak Mitra represented the president.

27. August
Bangalore A Division: Hindustan Aeronautics SC 1-0 Indian Telephone Industries - Goals: 1:0 Dayanand (63').
Bangalore A Division: LRDE 2-1 Telecom - Goals: 1:0 Mahendran (1'), 1:1 Iftikhar Ahmed (60'), 2:1 Saravanan Lokesh (87').
Delhi Senior Division - 2.Leg Semifinal: Hindustan Club 4-0 Youngmen SC
Goan Professional League: Churchill Brothers 2-0 Sporting Clube de Goa - Goals: 1:0 Roque Barreto (36'), 2:0 Osumanu Husseini (52').
Guwahati Super Division: NF Railway SC 1-1 Guwahati Town Club
Mumbai Harwood League: Western Railway 0-0 Central Railway - Goals: none.

26. August
Delhi Senior Division - 1.Leg Semifinal: Indian Nationals FC 1-0 Shahdara FC - Goal: 1:0 Yakubu Rubiu Mallam (52').

Note-1: Bury won 2-1 away at Rotherham United with Baichung Bhutia scoring the first goal for Bury in the 43.minute, his first goal of the season for the first team. Baichung made his second start for the first team in four days after a good match in the Worthington Cup against Crewe Alexandra. After these two good matches, many believe that Baichung has, at least for the time being, reserved himself a first-eleven place along with Adrian Littlejohn upfront. So best of luck BAICHUNG for a successful season!!!

25. August
Calcutta Super Division: East Bengal 3-0 Mohammedan Sporting - Goals: 1:0 Chandan Das (34'), 2:0 Sheikh Sanjib (50'), 3:0 Bijen Singh (85').
Calcutta Super Division: Mohun Bagan 4-0 George Telegraph - Goals: 1:0,2:0 R.C. Prakash (45',75'), 3:0 Jose Barreto (80'), 4:0 Joao dos Santos (87').
Delhi Senior Division - 1.Leg Semifinal: Hindustan Club 1-0 Youngmen SC - Goal: 1:0 Ossias Fereira.

Note-1: The AIFF president Priya Ranjan DasMunshi got a shot in the arm in his fight against the Indian Football Association, Bengal, when 22 out of the 28 affiliated units of the federation, at an emergency meeting in Delhi, requested the IFA to withdraw the court case against the AIFF, as the members felt that the allegations of financial impropriety levelled against Mr DasMunshi had no basis. A special meeting of the AIFF general body, on the request of 18 member-associations to discuss IFA's case against the AIFF at the Calcutta High Court, "unequivocally supported the resolution", requesting the IFA to withdraw the court case. Among the affiliated units who attended the meeting were Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Daman and Diu, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, IFA, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Pondicherry, Punjab, Railway Sports Promotion Board, Rajasthan, Services Sports Control Board, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Western India Football Association, and the Women's Football Committee. Sikkim, Manipur, Mizoram and Orissa did not attend the meeting. The resolution was a great relief for the AIFF president who is trying to seek another term in office, as an overwhelming number of members seem to be siding with him, though there have been protests at the way he has been handling the sponsorship deals of the AIFF.

24. August
Bangalore A Division: Indian Telephone Industries 4-1 Karnataka State Police - Goals: 1:0 Satish Kumar (17'), 1:1 B.V. Pradeep (43'), 2:1,4:1 Kenneth Ugwo (45',67'), 3:1 Kim Soo Hyun (53').
Bangalore A Division: BEL 3-0 United Bangalore - Goals: 1:0 Sebastian (35'), 2:0,3:0 Prakash (48',85').
Governor's Cup - Final - Margao: Churchill Brothers 5-1 Vasco SC - Goals: 1:0,2:0 Stephen Abarowei (22',36'), 3:0,5:0 Somatai Shaiza (54',78'), 4:0 Jose Colaco (75'), 5:1 Kishore Palkar (85').
Mumbai Harwood League: Bengal Mumbai FC 1-0 Bombay Customs - Goal: 1:0 Adeshin Sadiq (40').

23. August
Bangalore A Division: Hindustan Aeronautics SC 7-0 LRDE - Goals: 1:0,2:0,4:0 Dayanand (17',28',52'), 3:0 Sunil (32'), 5:0,6:0 Xavier (53',66'), 7:0 Murali (67').
Bangalore A Division: SAI Centre 4-1 Government Press
Delhi Senior Division - Super League: Tarun Sangha 2-1 Delhi Police - Goals: 1:0 Samir Singh (38'), 1:1 Jagya Ram Boro, 2:1 Tanmaya Ghosh.
Delhi Senior Division - Super League: Youngmen SC 4-0 Indian Air Force - Goals: 1:0,2:0,3:0 Praveen, 4:0 Sanjeev Sharma.

Note-1: The Statesman reports that the AIFF has set a special general meeting for August 25 at the SAI Centre, New Delhi, to discuss the situation resulting from the litigation initiated by the IFA in Calcutta High Court. Mr PR Das Munshi, president of the AIFF, has sent notices to all members stating that the step had been taken in view of the request made by 20 state associations. The number of members present at the meeting and the resolution adopted might also indicate how strong Mr KN Mour’s position is within the AIFF, whose polls are fixed for November. For more than one year, both Mr Das Munshi and Mr Mour were moving in opposite directions and allegations have been made by many AIFF office-bearers that Mr Mour is closely allied to Ranjit Gupta, IFA joint secretary.

22. August
Bangalore A Division: Telecom 2-0 Wheel & Axle Plant - Goals: 1:0 Iftikhar Ahmed (30'), 2:0 Mohammed Ali Khan (79').
Bangalore A Division: MICO 1-0 United Bangalore - Goal: 1:0 Ashok Junior (21').
Calcutta Super Division: Mohammedan Sporting 1-0 SAIL - Goal: 1:0 Kasif Jamal (58').
Calcutta Super Division: Tollygunge Agragami 3-0 Salkia Friends - Goals: 1:0,2:0,3:0 Abdullatif Sekiri (15',45',70').
Calcutta Super Division: Eastern Railway 2-0 Food Corporation of India - Goals: 1:0 Archisman Biswas, 2:0 Prasanta Ghosh.
Calcutta Super Division: George Telegraph 5-0 BNR
Delhi Senior Division - Super League: Hindustan Club 1-1 Shahdara FC - Goals: 1:0 Ossias Fereira, 1:1 Bhupinder Thakur (30').
Governor's Cup - Semifinal - Margao: Churchill Brothers 2-1 Dempo SC - Goals: 1:0,2:1 Roque Barreto (20',89'), 1:1 Marcus Carvalho (88').
Mumbai Harwood League: Bank of India 1-0 Western Railway - Goal: 1:0 MK Karumughilan (16').

21. August
Bangalore A Division: ADE 3-0 CIL - Goals: 1:0,2:0 Gnanaprakash (20',68'), 3:0 Benedict (68').
Bangalore A Division: MEG 3-3 Karnataka State Police - Goals: 0:1 Mageshwaran (28'), 0:2 Srinath (37'), 1:2,3:3 Hari Nagu (48',78'), 1:3 Francis Lazarus, 2:3 Chettri.
Delhi Senior Division - Super League: Youngmen 1-1 Tarun Sangha - Goals: 1:0 Ramesh Rawat, 1:1 Abani Soren.
Delhi Senior Division - Super League: Mughals SC 1-0 Youngsters Club - Goal: 1:0 Rajesh Arya (27').
Governor's Cup - Semifinal - Margao: Vasco SC 2-1 Salgaocar SC - Goals: 0:1 Climax Lawrence (69'), 1:1 Caetano Pinho (75'), 2:1 Kishore Palkar (80').

Note-1: Subrata Mukherjee, mayor of Calcutta, today expressed hope that the "race course would be moved out of the city precints and a proper soccer stadium be installed in the heart of the city instead." While officials of the Indian Football Association gathered today to give away the annual awards for the last local soccer season, Mukherjee jumped at the opportunity to declare his wish. He said that he, as mayor of Calcutta, is "willing to give land on the periphery of the city" for the racecourse if it needs to be removed for a soccer stadium to come in instead. Not a particularly new idea, this, one such from another quarter having been shot down long back. Ideas such as these have, of late, been relegated to the idle wish-zone. The association also honoured Olympian footballer Sailen Manna. The 75-year-old Padmashree and India's Footballer of the Millennium, was given a citation and gifts. The Bengal under-16 team which won the Mir Iqbal Trophy was also felicitated and given gifts. That was Bengal's only victory in any tournament last season. It was the Bengal team’s third consecutive victory.

20. August
Bangalore A Division: SAI Centre 3-2 MICO - Goals: 1:0 Ashok (Jr) (35'), 1:1 Karthik (55'), 2:1 Hidayathulla (60'), 2:2 Verma (65'), 3:2 Daniel (89').
Bangalore A Division: Hindustan Aeronautics SC 2-0 Karnataka State Police - Goals: 1:0 Dayanand (9'), 2:0 Jagdish (54').
Governor's Cup - Quarterfinal - Mapusa: Churchill Brothers 9-0 VLM SC - Goals: 1:0,2:0,6:0,7:0,8:0,9:0 Francis Silveira (15',22',66',81',83',85'), 3:0,4:0 Edson De Crasto (35',45'), 5:0 Somatai Shaiza (65').
Mumbai Harwood League: Central Railway 1-0 Air India - Goal: 1:0 Arshad Ansari (88').

19. August
Bangalore A Division: AGORC 4-1 Wheel & Axle Plant - Goals: 1:0 Venu (34'), 2:0 Raju (36'), 3:0 Shashidhar (68'), 3:1 Jerry, 4:1 Muthu (90').
Bangalore A Division: LRDE 6-0 Government Press - Goals: 1:0 George (20'), 2:0 Mahendran (37'), 3:0,4:0 Vinod (38',45'), 5:0,6:0 Murthy (87',90').
Calcutta Super Division: Mohun Bagan 1-0 George Telegraph - Goals: 1:0 Samuel Omollo (41').
Governor's Cup - Quarterfinal - Margao: Dempo SC 4-1 Sporting Clube de Goa - Goals: 1:0,4:0 Marcus Carvalho (3',50'), Mario Soares (32'), 3:0 Levy Coelho (47'), 4:1 Premanand Gadekar (89').
Governor's Cup - Quarterfinal - Vasco: Vasco SC 3-0 Pax of Nagoa - Goals: 1:0 Riston Rodrigues (70'), 2:0 Bibiano Fernandes (77'), 3:0 Louis Nickson (88').

Note-1: A few days ago the AIFF contacted Bury FC requesting that Baichung Bhutia be released to appear in a series of exhibition games during the month of September in India. These games would have meant Bhutia missing some six league games. Both Bury FC and Baichung have rejected the appeal. Baichung said: "I have missed most of the pre-season training because of the Indian side touring the UK, I want to stay at Gigg Lane and claim my first team place and work on my fitness. It was this that stopped me making more first team starts last season and First Team Football is my objective for this campaign. Bury Chief Executive Terry Robinson was said to be delighted with the young Indian's decision.

Note-2: Prominent footballer and Arjuna awardee, Chandreshwar Prasad, on indefinite fast for the fifth day, on Saturday threatened to return his award if his former employers, Bihar State Road Transport Corporation, failed to clear his dues. The ailing former India skipper sat on fast-unto-death on August 15 at Kargil Chowk here but was forced by the district authorities to vacate. He then moved to JP Roundabout to continue his fast. Popularly known as C Prasad, the footballer had been on fast in protest against the alleged inordinate delay in releasing his Provident Fund, salaries and other perks by the Bihar State Road Transport Corporation (BSRTC) from which he had resigned. Prasad said that although he had approached the Prime Minister, Union Sports Minister and Chief Minister for early release of dues by BSRTC before deciding to sit on fast, he could not elicit any response from them till date. Threatening to return the Arjuna Award if early action was not taken to clear his dues, Prasad asked, "What will the Arjuna Award do when my family members will starve for want of money? I request my well-wishers to come forward and rescue me," he added. When contacted, BSRTC sources said steps had already been taken to look into the demands of fasting Prasad.

18. August
Bangalore A Division: United Bangalore 1-1 Karnataka State Police - Goals: 1:0 Srinath, 1:1 Pele Mohan [own goal] (43').
Bangalore A Division: Indian Telephone Industries (Jrs) 3-1 BEL - Goals: 1:0 Dharani Dharan [own goal] (6'), 1:1 Sebastian (34'), 2:1 Somesh, 3:1 Reuben.
Governor's Cup - Quarterfinal - Mapusa: Salgaocar SC 6-0 MPT Sports Council - Goals: 1:0,4:0 Climax Lawrence (15',31'), 2:0 Jules Alberto (24'), 3:0,6:0 Bruno Coutinho (27',70'), 5:0 Dharamjit Singh (69').

Note-1: The "Times of India" reports that consequent to the governing body of football in West Bengal (Indian Football Association), taking recourse to legal action, several affiliated units of the All India Football Federation are up in arms. Or so it seems.
At least 24 of the AIFF's 31 affiliated units, including Karnataka, have reportedly written to the federation's secretary, Kedar Nath Mour, urging him to call a special general body meeting to initiate action against the West Bengal body.
According to information conveyed to an AIFF official by P. P. Singh, the AIFF president Priyaranjan Dasmunshi's secretary in New Delhi, letters from 18 units have already reached the AIFF office in Delhi and six more were expected by Thursday night.
The IFA, earlier too, had threatened to go to court but had refrained from doing so. But it has filed a suit in a Calcutta court and the Calcutta high court, according to reports, has appointed a receiver to probe the accounts of the AIFF. The next hearing in the matter has been posted for August 27.
According to the AIFF constitution, affiliated units are expected to resolve all disputes through arbitration. The constitution prevents anyone from taking nay matter to the courts. "Members (associatons or boards) or their constituents are interdicted from invoking the jurisdiction of courts of law in any matter concerning the game of football or its administration or disputes with the federation or with other members of the federation and their constituents and they shall agree to submit any such disputes to an arbitration panel constituted for the said purpose by the federation." That's what Rule 30 of the AIFF constitution says.
As mentioned in these columns earlier, the AIFF constitution is based on the Asian Football Confederation and the Federation Internationale de Football Association statues. The FIFA constitution goes a step further and states that "even if the law of a country allows clubs or club members to contest at a civil court any decisions pronounced by sports bodies, clubs or club members shall refrain from doing so until all the possibilities of sports jurisdiction within or under the responsibility of their national association have been exhausted."
The AIFF units want the secretary to ensure that these provisions are not violated. As the IFA has done so, they are demanding action as per the AIFF constitution.
The members, reportedly, want the meeting to be held before the next hearing. While confirming the move for such a meeting, K.N. Mour said from Calcutta that as per the constitution, 30 days notice has to be given before calling the annual general meeting or a special AGM. Even otherwise, if one third of the members want a special AGM to discuss a specific matter, the executive committee may call for such a meeting within 45 days of the written request.
The IFA secretary Ranjit Gupta has seemingly been waging a virtual war against the president Priyaranjan Dasmunshi. He floated the idea of the India Cup international tournament without the latter's knowledge. Ranjit Gupta was earlier 'expelled' from the AIFF executive committee.
With elections due in December this year, la affaire AIFF is becoming increasingly intriguing.

17. August
Bangalore A Division: ADE 1-0 Hindustan Aeronautics SC - Goal: 1:0 Gnanaprakash (54').
Bangalore A Division: CIL 2-0 Telecom - Goals: 1:0 Ravikumar (25'), 2:0 Ravindran (35').
Calcutta Super Division: East Bengal 2-1 Salkia Friends - Goals: 1:0 Dipankar Roy (9'), 2:0 Dipendu Biswas (20'), 2:1 Pravash Ghosh (87').
Governor's Cup - Margao: St Anthony's Club 0-2 VLM SC - Goals: 0:1 Simon Borges (27'), 0:2 Anthony Fernandes (90').

Note-1: First division football league team, Salcete Football Club, will be sponsored by the Arlem Brewery group from this season. This was annouced by Vijay Chowgule, managing director of Arlem Brewaries at a press conference held in Margao. This is the second club to be backed by the Arlem group after Vasco SC. Mr Chowgule, however, refused to disclose the actual amount to be given to Salcete FC. But he said, "The amount was substantial and it is a long term deal. Salcete have to take care about the results and the financial side will be looked by us." The Salcete FC jersey will now bear the word Arlem, both in front and back while the colours will remain the same.

16. August
Bangalore A Division: SAI Centre 1-0 AGORC - Goal: 1:0 Manjunath (76').
Bangalore A Division: MEG 2-1 Government Press - Goals: 1:0 Chettri (44'), 1:1 Vijay Babu (47'), 2:1 Harinagu (88').
Calcutta Super Division: Mohun Bagan 1-0 Tollygunge Agragami - Goal: 1:0 R.C. Prakash (35').
Delhi Senior Division - Super League: Indian Air Force 0-0 Delhi Police - Goals: none.
Governor's Cup - Vasco: MPT Sports Council 3-2 Velsao Pale - Goals: 0:1 John Dias (19'), 1:1 Vishant Pednekar (23'), 2:1,3:1 Mario Coelho (55',64'), 3:2 Caitan Xavier Rodrigues (78').
Governor's Cup - Mapusa: Sporting Clube de Goa 2-0 Goa Police - Goals: 1:0 Daniel Noronha (23'), 2:0 Premanand Gadekar.
Mumbai Harwood League: Central Bank of India 0-0 Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers - Goals: none.

15. August

Bangalore A Division: Karnataka State Police 1-0 LRDE - Goal: 1:0 Srinath (84').
Bangalore A Division: ADE 3-0 MICO - Goals: 1:0,2:0,3:0 Gnanaprakash (44',77',89').
Mumbai Harwood League: Western Railway 2-0 Bombay Customs - Goals: 1:0 Mukund Yadav, 2:0 Imam-Ul Haq.

Note-1: The Hindu reports from Mumbai that I.M. Vijayan, the former Indian football team skipper and one of the country's most experienced strikers, will be playing in the Bangladesh league in August.
"I have accepted an offer from Muktijoddha SKC and will join them after returning from Saudi Arabia. The contract is for five league games,'' he said, speaking to The Hindu on Monday, enroute to Damman, Saudi Arabia, for the first of two charity exhibition matches featuring the I.M. Vijayan Sports Foundation football team.
The I.M. Vijayan Sports Foundation team, led by the former India captain, is scheduled to play exhibition ties on August 17 at Damman and August 19 at Riyadh against a leading Saudi Arabian club, Al-Qadisiyah, to raise funds from Indian expatriates for the Thrissur-based foundation where 30 local boys in the 10-14 age group are being trained by Xavier Pius, an ex-India forward who made his name in the Calcutta league.
"I am keeping my fingers crossed. If this tour succeeds and the Gulf Indian football fans respond well, then I can think of expanding the foundation gradually to encompass talent from all over Kerala," said Vijayan. "The Muktijoddha club offer came during India's recent tour of England, when we played Bangladesh XI in the last match," said the striker, who will be playing his first season outside India.
"The England tour was a great learning experience, especially because we have not played teams at English First Division level before. With more such tours, Indian football can only get better," observed the India striker, who feels the AIFF deserve to be lauded for undertaking such ventures.
His decision to launch a sports foundation at a time when he is still a full-time football professional seems surprising, considering that training and playing competitive sport for FC Kochin or India will take up most of his time.
"I have been planning to give something back to the game once my playing days are over. And I also know that as long as you are in the public eye, it is easier to get things done instead of approaching people as a retired footballer. So I have started the foundation now, when people are asking whether I can find the time, in the hope that when I decide to quit, the money and the infrastructure will be in place."
"Gaining an entry into Gulf sides is difficult at this stage for an Indian footballer, but the tour to England has proved that given more opportunities against quality teams, we can certainly make an impression. This Saudi tour happened due to initiative shown by the Cultural Society of India in Saudi Arabia. If we succeed in creating a positive impact, groups in other Gulf states will be encouraged to invite more Indian footballers."

14. August
Bangalore A Division: Indian Telephone Industries (Srs) 5-1 Indian Telephone Industries (Jrs) - Goals: 1:0 Kim Soo Hyun (8'), 2:0 Mahendra Mani (15'), 3:0 Jimmy Mulisa (20'), 3:1 Gubendran (38'), 4:1 Peter (50'), 5:1 Pralad Singh Rawat (75').
Bangalore A Division: United Bangalore 3-1 Telecom - Goals: 1:0 Abhijith (18'), 2:0 Senthil Kumar (44'), 2:1 Kadiravan (65'), 3:1 Venugopal (90').
Calcutta Super Division: Mohammedan Sporting 1-3 East Bengal - Goals: 0:1,1:3 Bijen Singh (11',77'), 0:2 Dipankar Roy (27'), 1:2 Srikrishna Ghosh (57').
Calcutta Super Division: BNR 1-1 Food Corporation of India - Goals: 1:0 Partha Mitra, 1:1 Sujay Datta.
Calcutta Super Division: Eastern Railway 0-2 SAIL - Goals: 0:1 Dipak Das, 0:2 Mushtaqin Molla.
Delhi Senior Division - Super League: Shastri Club 2-1 Mughals SC - Goals: 1:0 Surinder Bisht (13'), 2:0 Gurinder Pal Singh, 2:1 Rajesh Arya.
Delhi Senior Division - Super League: City Club 3-2 Youngsters Club - Goals: 1:0,2:1 Nageshwar Rao (12',29'), 1:1 Neeraj Chowdhury (15'), 2:2 Devish Kaushik, 3:2 Mohammed Shakeel (49').
Governor's Cup - Mapusa: Dempo SC 5-0 Corps of Signals - Goals: 1:0 Levy Coelho (28'), 2:0,4:0 Marcus Carvalho (30',60'), 3:0 Jeevan Moraes (31'), 5:0 Ram Rai (63').
Governor's Cup - Vasco: Pax of Nagoa 2-0 Salcete FC - Goals: 1:0 Cristo Colaco (65'), 2:0 Mario Pereira (68').
Governor's Cup - Margao: Vasco SC 4-0 Napoli SC - Goals: 1:0 Jude Odegah (52'), 2:0,3:0 Gregory Clark (60',63'), 4:0 Caetano Pinho (82').

13. August
Delhi Senior Division - Super League: Indian Nationals FC 0-0 Youngmen SC - Goals: none.
Delhi Senior Division - Super League: Indian Air Force 1-1 Tarun Sangha - Goals: 0:1 Samir Singh (20'), 1:1 Jayanti Das (46').

Note-1: The Leicester City chairman has invited the Indian football team to tour the United Kingdom next year, AIFF president Priya Ranjan Das Munshi said at a media conference in Calcutta on Sunday.
"Few American agencies have also revealed there interest to take the Indian team to Miami, Los Angeles and New Jersey" added the federation president.
Das Munshi came up with lots of `good news' for the lovers of the game but, as is his wont, none of them were concrete.
According to him, the Indian football scenario is changing for the better, "I literally went on begging for a sponsor till the last National league. But now companies like Zee TV, General Motors, Gillette and Sahara are showing keen interest to be associated with Indian football."
He said at the meeting of South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) it was decided to include Bhutan as its seventh member and Bangladesh was awarded the next SAFF Cup at Dhaka.
He said both Indian and Bangladeshi soccer bodies agreed in principle to introduce a new fixture in the name of Ganga-Padma football tournament where in the three best teams from Dhaka and Calcutta would take part. The meet is to be launched next year.
The Nehru Gold Cup football tournament, which is fast losing its importance, will be held this year at Bhopal.
The Nehru Cup, which exposed Indians to high voltage soccer in the early 80s, presently finds it difficult to attract sponsors owing to many shortcomings, the major one being the federation's firmness to retain the name of one of India's former Prime Ministers. While the sponsors wanted to change the nomenclature of the meet, the AIFF would not accede to the demand because of emotional and sentimental attachment to the name.
Mr. Das Munshi said the Millennium Cup, the AIFF's most ambitions project, would begin on January 10 with Calcutta as the main venue. The confusion that arose over two international tournaments being held at the same time - the India Cup organised by the IFA and the Millennium Cup by the AIFF - has been almost sorted out, according to Mr Das Munshi. Only the Millennium Cup will be held. To accommodate the new but one-off championship, he said, the federation would advance the dates of the National League to October.
A meeting of the federation at the end of this month would decide the dates of the pending tournaments as well.
Meanwhile, Das Munshi informed that the heroic performance of the Indian team in the UK tour has impressed a few overseas agencies who expressed their interest over a few about Indian footballers. "Mahesh Gawli, Prabhjot Singh and Hardip Singh Saini may get a call from Singapore. A few European agencies said that they will try to get contracts for these three in Yugoslavia or Croatia."
While releasing the fixture of the Group 8 pre-World Cup meet for the 2002 FIFA World Cup to be co-hosted by South Korea and Japan, the AIFF chief said Goa, Calcutta and Kochi were the three centres vying to host matches involving India, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Brunei. By the end of the month a final decision on this would be taken. India would begin its campaign on April 8 and conclude it on May 20 both with home matches. As a part of the Indian team's preparation, he said a tour to southern France would be considered in March next.
The pre-World Cup fixture (home and away basis): April 7, 2000: Brunei vs Yemen (Brunei); April 8: India vs UAE (India); April 14: Brunei vs UAE (Brunei); April 15: India vs Yemen (India); April 26: Yemen vs Brunei (Yemen); UAE vs India (UAE); May 4: Yemen vs India (Yemen); UAE vs Brunei (UAE); May 11:Yemen vs UAE (Yemen); May 12: Brunei vs India (Brunei); May 18: UAE vs Yemen (UAE); May 20: India vs Brunei (India).

12. August
Calcutta Super Division: Mohun Bagan 2-0 Salkia Friends - Goals: 1:0 Samuel Omollo (38'), 2:0 Jose Barreto (49').
Delhi Senior Division - Super League: Shahdara Club 2-1 City Club - Goals: 1:0,2:0 Bhupender Thakur (15',18'), 2:1 Mohammed Abdullah (82').
Delhi Senior Division - Super League: Hindustan Club 0-0 Shastri Club - Goals: none.
Mumbai Harwood League: Mahindra United 2-0 Air India - Goals: 1:0 Mohammed Najeeb, 2:0 Ali Abbas Rizvi.

11. August
Delhi Senior Division - Super League: Moonlight Club 2-1 Youngmen - Goals: 1:0,2:1 Mehtab (28',?'), 1:1 Sanjeev (33').

Note-1: The Telegraph reports from Calcutta that Zee TV, after revealing their plans to sponsor Tollygunge Agragami, have also shown interest in coverage of the Calcutta Super Division League. A top Zee official, who is in the city, held preliminary discussions with IFA joint secretary Ranjit Gupta today. This, in turn, has forced ESPN - who had bought the rights to telecast the League for five years - to renew their interest in the coverage of matches after turning away from the proceedings in the initial stages. In a press release, ESPN today announced their plans to cover highlights of the ongoing League matches including presentation of players’ profiles, interviews and produce four capsules of 30-minute duration, starting end of this month. The executive producer of ESPN, Singapore, in charge of the League, will arrive here by Sunday to finalise the programme. "Zee's proposals are encouraging and they seem to be very keen in their approach. I'm waiting for ESPN to finalise their coverage schedule. Only then can any decision be taken," the IFA joint secretary said.
Good to see that TV coverage of major local leagues is likely this year. Goa on Zee TV and Calcutta on ESPN.

10. August
Calcutta Super Division: East Bengal 2-0 Tollygunge Agragami - Goals: 1:0 Carlton Chapman (55'), 2:0 Bijen Singh (87').
Delhi Senior Division - Super League: Hindustan Club 4-1 Mughals SC - Goals: 0:1 Rajesh Arya (5'), 1:1,3:1 Ossias Ferreira, 2:1 Subhash Negi, 4:1 Vivek Sharma.
Delhi Senior Division - Super League: Indian Air Force 1-0 Moonlight Club - Goal: 1:0 P. Mukherjee.
Mumbai Harwood League: Union Bank of India 1-0 Central Bank of India - Goal: 1:0 Vijay Thapa (69').

Note-1: Here come further good sponsorship news...
Zee Sports television might make a grand entry into Calcutta soccer this year by sponsoring the club Manaksia Tollygunge Agragami. Company executive Satish Menon, who was in the city, held a detailed meeting with Tollygunge Agragami secretary Mantoo Ghosh on Thursday morning. Mr Menon, after a day of watching the East Bengal versus Tollygunge match, would not go into the nittigrities of the talks. He said: "Calcutta is the country's Mecca of football. Naturally, it is a lucrative market for any corporate house. We will also try our luck. Regarding sponsorships, we have a few clubs in our mind and Tollygunge Agragami are one of them. But we are yet to take any decision." Zee has always had a preference for only those clubs who are participating in the National League. It sponsored Goa's Churchill Brothers this season. Tollygunge Agragami are a favourite from Calcutta because they has been fighting in the League since 1998. However, following the requests of some officials of the Indian Football Association, Zee also considered sponsoring the century-old club Mohammedan Sporting. But, it is learnt the company's representative could not be convinced about Mohammedan Sporting and only had a meeting with officials of Tollygunge Agragami. The Tollygunge Agragami secretary has been asked by Zee Sports to send all financial documents of the club to the company. According to Mr Ghosh, the sponsorship might materialise before November end.

9. August
Delhi Senior Division - Super League: Youngmen SC 2-1 Delhi Police - Goals: 1:0 Praveen Arora (47'), 2:0 Sanjeev Sharma, 2:1 Jagya Ram.

Note-1: The Pre-World Cup football matches have been finalised at the FIFA meeting at Zurich. India will take on the United Arab Emirates in the first match on April 8, 2001 in India while it will the away match in the UAE in the return match at Dubai on April 26, 2001. Calcutta is the most likely host venue for the India-UAE encounter. India's other opponents in the group are Brunei and Yemen. The results of Pre-World Cup will be completed by May 10, 2001. Meanwhile, FIFA chairman of technical committee Mohammed Bin Hammam has assured the All India Football Federation (AIFF) the services of a credible coach for the Indian team. The coach will be selected among Roy Miller (Britain), Frengi Zeneun (France), Stiky Binic (Russia)."Before the last week of August, the AIFF will finalise the schedule of the 1999-2000 Junior Nationals and the pending Federation Cup", said PR Dasmunshi, president of the AIFF. The AIFF authorities will meet their counterparts from the Sports Authority of India on August 16 to discuss matters of long-term planning, international exposure and scientific evaluation of each player. The Millennium Super Soccer Cup will be held in January 2001 and the venue will be Calcutta. The number of teams would be between 12 and 16 and countries like Columbia are expected to play in it.

8. August
Calcutta Super Division: Mohun Bagan 2-1 BNR - Goals: 1:0,2:0 Jose Barreto (45',58'), 2:1 Partha Mitra (88').
Calcutta Super Division: Food Corporation of India 2-0 SAIL - Goals: 1:0 Amar Pyne, 2:0 Nirmal Mondal.
Delhi Senior Division - Super League: Hindustan Club 3-0 Youngsters Club - Goals: 1:0,3:0 Hirender Rawat, 2:0 Vivek Sharma.
Delhi Senior Division - Super League: Shahdara FC 4-1 Mughals SC
Mumbai Harwood League: Central Railway 1-0 Bank of India - Goals: 1:0 Rajesh Gharat (90').

Note-1: The Telegraph reports from Calcutta that Renedy Singh and his prospective club Mohun Bagan have started proceedings to legalise their relationship. Today, Renedy sent a letter to Vijay Mallya, chairman of the UB Group, requesting him to step in and solve the impasse created by East Bengal deciding not to release the player. It is a letter quite like the one that a desperate Dipendu Biswas had written when Mohun Bagan were refusing to release him to East Bengal. It purports to paint the player as an unwilling pawn and one with a bleak future. Mohun Bagan, too, have written to Mallya, stressing that the problem should be solved within 48 hours, looking at the availability of the player for the league. If the issue does follow the Dipendu pattern, Renedy should get his clearance soon, from the chairman of the club. One will be left wondering, though, as to why so much dust was raised for an issue as petty as this. Rennedy starts practice with Mohun Bagan tomorrow.

7. August
Delhi Senior Division - Super League: Indian Nationals FC 3-0 Tarun Sangha - Goals: 1:0 Trilok Bisht, 2:0 Pushpender Singh, 3:0 Gurjan Singh.
Delhi Senior Division - Super League: Shastri Club 1-0 City Club - Goal: 1:0 Surender Bisht.
Guwahati Super Division: Rising XI 2-0 Young Amateur - Goals: 1:0 Sanjay Brahma (70'), 2:0 Pranob Daimary (76').
Mumbai Harwood League: Mahindra United 0-0 Western Railway - Goals: none.

Note-1: Interesting developments in Calcutta. Renedy Singh (Indian No.6 in England) has signed in favour of Mohun Bagan today.
Disclosing the news at a Press conference at the club tent, Mohun Bagan secretary Anjan Mitra said: "We hope East Bengal will reciprocate our gesture of releasing Dipendu Biswas and issue Renedy's release order." East Bengal assistant-secretary Dipak Das, however, ruled out the possibility of releasing the midfielder.
On Friday Mohun Bagan "signed up" the East Bengal player and took his token (No. 766). Rennedy has also sent letters to East Bengal, the Indian Football Association and to the sponsors, the UB Group, informing them of the "transfer".
After the Dipendu Biswas issue, now part two of the East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan players swatch matter. The UB-Group's "restriction on snatching players" is made absurde...

Note-2: Meanwhile East Bengal's or should I already say Mohun Bagan's Rennedy Singh has earned one small dividend from his tour of England with the Indian team: a month-long training in October. "This is no trial," said Rennedy today, "but a sort of training session that coach Anjan Chowdhury has promised." Chowdhury is a coach with a junior Arsenal side there. I.M. Vijayan was also given this offer, but the Kerala star has turned it down. Rennedy said the exact dates and place were to be known later, but if he manages to change to Mohun Bagan this year, he will have a contract that will allow him a month's leave during that period.

Note-3: A 19-member team including 17 Tata Football Academy players here left yesterday for Cologne Sports University, Germany, to get international exposure, TFA director Arun Ghosh said. Seventeen TFA boys would play five matches against local football clubs during their one-month stay and take coaching from Britain-based coach Anjan Chowdhury.
As Cologne is 50 KMs down the A1 Autobahn from Remscheid, I will try to contact the TFA boys and their management here. I really would like to have a look at the current lot of youngsters...

6. August
Guwahati Super Division: NF Railway SC 1-0 Maharana AC - Goal: 1:0 Duleswar Rabha (56').
Mumbai Harwood League: Air India 3-0 Bengal Mumbai FC - Goals: 1:0 Herbert Philip (6'), 2:0,3:0 Anthony Fernandes (36',60').
Salcete FC Inter-club Tournament - Navelim - Final: Dempo SC 2-1 Vasco SC - Goals: 0:1 Agnelo Colaco (18'), 1:1 Edwin Fernandes (45'), 2:1 Levy Coelho (89').

Note-1: The Goa football season will begin on August 13 with a charity match between last season's professional winners, Churchill Brothers and last year's Governor's Cup winners, Salgaocar Sports Club.
The match, to be played at Nehru Stadium here, will be a curtain raiser for the Governor's Cup, which begins on August 14 with the final slated on August 24.
The professional league, featuring six teams as against five last year, commences on August 27 and will end on October 15, Goa Football Association secretary Angelo Alcasaos told reporters at Margao. The six teams are: Zee-Churchill Bros, Salgaocar SC, Dempo SC, Vasco SC, MPT Sports Council and Sporting Club de Goa.
Having successfully conducted tournaments for under-17 and under-19 boys last year, GFA is staging a tournament for under-13 boys this year. "We are also going to have a league for women this year in addition to women' under-14 and under-19 leagues", Alcasaos said.
To encourage football among women, Sports Authority of India has established a hostel for women in Goa where about 25 players are being trained by Francis D'Souza. The GFA is also going to start it's own football academy next season. The government and SAI have allotted GFA 24 rooms in the South stand of the Nehru Stadium for accommodation of players and permitted use of the playground outside the stadium for practice, he said.
Besides the first and second prizes (amounts as yet undecided) and the fair play team award, GFA has decided to give a prize to the third-placed team from this year.
Prizes will also be given to the best defender, best midfielder, best forward, best goalkeeper and the highest scorer in the professional and first division leagues.
Zee Sports of the Zee network will sponsor GFA's youth development programme from this year at a cost of Rs 1.500.000 and once the Procam/DSP sponsorship for the professional and first division league comes to and end in the 2000-01 season, Zee Sports would sponsor all GFA tournaments, he said.
The article above shows that professional approach to football is welcomed by big sponsorship!!! I hope that others will follow after the successful England tour.

5. August
Calcutta Super Division: Mohun Bagan 1-1 Mohammedan Sporting - Goals: 0:1 Abdul Khalique (13'), 1:1 R.C. Prakash (60').
Calcutta Super Division: BNR 3-0 Salkia Friends
Calcutta Super Division: George Telegraph 4-0 SAIL
Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Indian Air Force 1-0 Garhwal Heroes - Goal: 1:0 S. Pal (51').
Guwahati Super Division: Assam Dynamo Club 1-1 Young Amateur - Goals: 1:0 Moses Owira (39'), 1:1 Phungka Basumatary (84').

4. August
Calcutta Super Division: East Bengal 1-0 Eastern Railway - Goal: Dipendu Biswas (77').

03. August
Guwahati Super Division: Guwahati Town Club 2-1 Rising XI - Goals: 0:1 Pranob Daimari (10'), 1:1 Taposh Sinha (29'), 2:1 Jadumoni Kakati (32').
Guwahati Super Division: Assam State Electricity Board 1-0 Nabajyoti Club - Goals: 1:0 H. Lalremruata (17').

2. August
Guwahati Super Division: NF Railway SC 3-0 Assam Dynamo Club - Goals: 1:0,2:0 Duleswar Rabha (9',69'), 3:0 Khokan Sarkar (88').
Mumbai Harwood League: Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers 0-0 Western Railway - Goals: none.

Note-1: The Telegraph reports that the governing body of the Indian Football Association today empowered its joint secretaries to go ahead with a rather ambitious plan - to stage an international tournament called the India Cup at Saltlake Stadium from December 8 to 20. The IFA officials, who say they have the support of the state government for this venture, claimed that permission from the All India Football Federation will be obtained. IFA joint-secretary Ranjit Gupta announced that the entire expense (Rs 6.5 crore approximately) will be raised by an event management company and the IFA will not have invest a single rupee. He even claimed to have received confirmation from Croatia, Ghana, the Czech Republic, Paraguay and Iran and added that all these countries have agreed to send their national teams. Asked whether it would be possible to involve the Indian national team as the National League will be in progress at that time, Gupta said the India team will not be considered if needed.

Note-2: The IFA Shield, featuring eight teams, will be played from September 4 to 16. The top five teams in the Super Division League, one cluster qualifier and two outstation teams will take part. Efforts are on to invite a team from Thailand.

Note-3: A US-based Keralite lady, who is a member of a football team in the league circuit there, has returned to her native city with a mission - to promote women's football in Kerala. Margaret Miller, along with a few others - including senior national coach Shaji Cherian Oommen, has launched the Kerala Women's Football Club, the first of its kind in the state. It is aimed at regaining the lost glory of women's football in the state. Office-bearers of the club, speaking to newsmen in Trivandrum on Wednesday, said the club will select 24 girls from various schools in the state and provide them football kits. Shaji Oommen, who has coached the state and national women's teams for over 15 years, will train the selected players. Affiliated to the Kerala Football Association, the team will be attached to the regional coaching centre of the Kerala Sports Council. More than just extending initial funding, Miller, who is the president of the club, hopes to raise more funds from Kerala associations in the US. Her husband Thomas Miller is the chairman of the club, brother Giles Francis, the treasurer, and coach Shaji Oommen, the secretary. Miller had her school and college education in the city and also worked as a lecturer in a college for a few years. She was a member of All Saints badminton and table tennis teams and captained the hockey team. She was also a regular in the Kerala University hockey team. After migrating to the US in 1980, she joined a women's football league "Prime of Life" in San Diego in 1992 and has been playing for the UC United team since then.

1. August
Calcutta Super Division: East Bengal 1-0 Food Corporation of India - Goal: 1:0 Surkumar Singh (69').
Calcutta Super Division: Eastern Railway 1-0 Tollygunge Agragami - Goal: 1:0 Shib Shankar Chowdhury (43').
Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Indian Air Force 0-0 City Club - Goals: none.
Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Moonlight Club 1-0 New Delhi Heroes - Goal: 1:0 Lalit Singh Nisht.
Guwahati Super Division: Nabajyoti Club 1-1 Maharana AC - Goals: 0:1 Anuj Gogoi, 1:1 Hemanta Kalita.