30. May
Might the Indian national team soon play football against Pakistan in Pakistan?
The AIFF Secretary Alberto Colaco has said today that Pakistan had invited the Indian football team to play matches in that country. The Pak proposal was at an initial stage and government clearance was necessary for such a tour, said Colaco, adding "This is just at an initial stage and nothing can be decided without the government clearance in this regard."

36.BC Roy Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group A: Manipur 4-4 Bihar - Goals: 1:0,3:4 Tiken Singh (4',71'), 1:1,2:2,2:3,2:4 Syed Rahim Nabi (8',23',30',57'), 2:1 Sejalal Haokip (17'), 4:4 Shyamsunder Sharma (73').
36.BC Roy Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group A: Assam 2-1 Maharashtra - Goals: 1:0 Bhim Kanta Sonowal (8'), 1:1 Steven Benedict Dias (48'), 2:1 Danny Muinao (62').

29. May
Here some news on the next edition of the SAFF CUP that I received from the Asian Football Confederation (thanks to Tim Maitland!).
A meeting of the South Asian Football Federation in Colombo, Sri Lanka has confirmed the dates for the fifth edition of the region's premier international tournament - the SAFF Cup. The competition will be staged in Dhaka, Bangladesh from January 26 to February 7, 2002.
The tournament was originally intended to be held in October or November 2001, fitting in with its biennial status. However with the international calendar packed this year with World Cup qualifying and the Afro-Asian Games, the SAFF Council decided that the January 2002 date would allow all the teams involved the best preparation for the competition.
The tournament, which India has won on the past two occasions (1997 and 1999), will expand to seven nations with the addition, for the first time, of Bhutan. They along with the holders, the hosts, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, will be drawn into two groups. The top two from each group will then enter the semifinals and, if successful, proceed to the final.
Another international tournament for the Indian national team! The schedule for the Indian internationals are getting quite heavy in the upcoming season...

36.BC Roy Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group B: Kerala 0-0 Bengal - Goals: none.
36.BC Roy Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group B: Orissa 1-0 Uttar Pradesh - Goal: 1:0 Gyanaranjan Samal (48').

28. May
36.BC Roy Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group A: Manipur 2-1 Maharashtra - Goals: 1:0 Shyamsundar Sharma (51'), 2:0 L Tiken Singh (53'), 2:1 Abhijeet Chorge (62').
36.BC Roy Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group A: Bihar 0-0 Assam - Goals: none.

27. May
9th Women's National Championship - Final: Bengal 0-1 Manipur - Goal: 0:1 Tababi Devi (25').
Manipur win their seventh title in the ninth final against Bengal!

36.BC Roy Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group B: Bengal 0-1 Orissa - Goal: 0:1 Shauk Raju (24').
36.BC Roy Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group B: Kerala 4-0 Uttar Pradesh - Goals: 1:0 Sivadath Roni (38'), 2:0,4:0 Khabir (41',63'), 3:0 Binoop (54').

Note-1: The new AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco is trying to professionalize the game in India.
Evidence is gathered from the advertisements given by the AIFF secretary in leading newpapers in Delhi, inviting bids from the corporate houses for sponsoring different tournaments of the Federation. Perhaps, the AIFF has realised that it is the best time to copy the successful formula from Cricket.
Besides asking for team sponsorship and marketing rights for the 11 tournaments of the Federation's calender, the AIFF general secretary has also approached the corporate sector for bidding for the title sponsors of tournaments.
Issues like naming the sponsor of the tournament like that of Wills Trophy in domestic cricket, 50 per cent of the ground level perimeter boards, displaying of sponsor's logo on the ticket, right to decorate the stage for the prize distribution ceremony, right to donate trophies for the tournament, right to nominate a person to distribute the trophy to the winning team, and right to advertise sponsor's association with the tournament. All communications during the tournament will bear the sponsor's name.
The bid has been invited for all the 11 tournament's sponsorship and marketing rights for each of the tournaments and telecast rights for each of the tournaments separately or in a package for a minimum period of five years starting from the 2001-02 season. The Federation also needs official kit suppliers to the Indian Team (Olympic, senior, junior, sub-junior) for a period of three years.
The name of the 11 tournaments of the Federation are:
The Premier Division National League, the 2.Division National League, the Federation Cup, the Senior National football championship for the Santosh Trophy, the under-21 National championship, the under-19 National championship, the under-16 National championship, the women's National football championship, the girls under-19 National championship, the Nehru Cup international tournament (alternate year) and the Rajiv Gandhi under-21 international tournament (alternate year).

26. May
36.BC Roy Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group A: Bihar 11-0 Maharashtra - Goals: 1:0,7:0,9:0 Malswan Tulunga (7',63',73'), 2:0 Krishna Jaggi (30'), 3:0,5:0,8:0 Krishna Tudu (37',53',63'), 4:0,6:0,10:0,11:0 Syed Rahim Nabi (52',60',75',78').
36.BC Roy Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group A: Manipur 1-0 Assam - Goal: 1:0 L Tiken Singh (45').

25. May
9th Women's National Championship - Semifinal: Bengal 6-0 Maharashtra - Goals: 1:0,4:0,5:0 Rinku Ghosh (11',31',35'), 2:0,3:0 Sujata Kar (19',30'), 6:0 Sayanti Nandi (79').
9th Women's National Championship - Semifinal: Manipur 5-0 Bihar - Goals: 1:0 RK Sulochana (5'), 2:0 Ranjeeta [own goal], 3:0 S Rani, 4:0,5:0 Tababi Devi (37',76').

36.BC Roy Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group B: Bengal 10-0 Uttar Pradesh - Goals: 1:0,6:0;7:0 Supratik Ain (4',48',49'), 2:0 Saikot Mondal (9'), 3:0,10:0 Mehtab Hussain (29',76'), 4:0,5:0,8:0 Tarif Ahmed (33',43',57'), 9:0 Lakan Singh (61').
36.BC Roy Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group B: Kerala 0-1 Orissa - Goal: 0:1 Etwa Puran (13').

24. May
36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster VI: Maharashtra 2-0 Haryana - Goals: 1:0,2:0 Ashish Mohan Bohir (4',39').

Note-1: The football matches of the forthcoming Afro-Asian Games are likely to be held in Calcutta, according to West Bengal Sports Minister Subhash Chakraborty. Speaking to newspersons at a 'meet the press'' programme organised by the Calcutta Sports Journalists' Club, Chakraborty informed that he already had a discussion with AIFF President PR Das Munshi in this regard. He said that Das Munshi also felt that the football matches of the Afro-Asian Games, which were scheduled to be held in New Delhi during November this year, would be held in the city as it has the proper infrastructrue for the dicipline. However, a final decision in this regard would be taken by the Indian Olympics Association soon.

23. May

!!! indianfootball.com congratulates FC BAYERN MUNICH for winning the Champions League !!!

9th Women's National Championship - Quarterfinal-League - Group E: Manipur 8-0 Maharashtra
9th Women's National Championship - Quarterfinal-League - Group E: Orissa 1-1 Kerala

36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster III: Assam 18-0 Himachal Pradesh - Goals: 1:0,3:0,4:0,5:0,7:0,12:0,13:0 Brijab Mushary (4',7',13',22',29',39',47'), 2:0,8:0,9:0,17:0 Bhim Kanta Sonowal (5',31',34',74'), 6:0,10:0,18:0 Bijen Gayary (25',35',78'), 11:0 Ratu Sondwal (37'), 14:0,15:0,16:0 Kamal Chetry (50',56',59').
36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster III: Tamil Nadu 0-1 Delhi - Goal: 0:1 Sunil Chetri (16').

22. May
9th Women's National Championship - Quarterfinal-League - Group F: Bengal 3-1 Punjab
9th Women's National Championship - Quarterfinal-League - Group F: Bihar 5-0 Assam

36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster III: Delhi 11-0 Himachal Pradesh - Goals: 1:0,5:0 Ifran Zanan Khan (3',32'), 2:0,6:0,7:0,8:0,11:0 Sunil Chetri (13',32',43',52',79'), 3:0 Vijayakumar Jha (22'), 4:0 G Ninja Kubui (27'), 9:0 Arindon (58'), 10:0 Ravinder Mohan (67').
36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster III: Tamil Nadu 1-1 Assam - Goals: 0:1 Bijen Gayari (52'), 1:1 AV Villy (74').
36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster VI: Maharashtra 3-2 Tripura - Goals: 0:1 Amitava Das (7'), 1:1,3:1 Imran Ansari (27',29'), 2:1 Stephen Dias (28'), 3:2 Eshwar Jamatia (78').

Note-1: The Mohun Bagan football club has appealed to the state government to immediately resume reconstruction of the damaged stands in the three enclosed grounds in the city and warned that the situation may reach a flashpoint if remedial measures are not taken immediately.
In a letter to the chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, the club's general secretary, Anjan Mitra said that the precarious condition of the stands inside the enclosed grounds was causing concern to club officials, while ordinary "football lovers were emotionally charged on the issue".
He said that reconstruction work was taken up at the Mohammedan Sporting Club, but to our surprise, work was abandoned halfway. "It has since remained stalled for reasons beyond our comprehension", he said.
Mitra said that a large number of people were injured in the past when the wooden stands collapsed inside the Mohammedan Sporting ground and urged that the government should not delay the reconstruction work any further.

21. May
A list of 28 probables has been released for the Merdeka Cup preparatory camp which will start on June 8. Skipper Baichung Bhutia has requested the AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco to leave him out of the squad, to recharge his batteries before going back to Bury for pre-season. All others from the World Cup qualifiers squad have been retained, while notable inclusion is former captain Basudeb Mondal plus seven other players.
Probables: GK: Virender Singh, Narshiman Balaji, Prasanta Dora, Sangram Mukherjee; DF: Surkumar Singh, Deepak Mondal, Mahesh Gawli, Roberto Fernandes, KV Dhanesh, Ratan Singh, Tapan Ghosh, Daljit Singh; MF: Jules Alberto, Khalid Jamil, Jo Paul Ancheri, Renedy Singh, S Venkatesh, RP Singh, Noel Wilson, Basudev Mondal, Dipankar Roy, Hardip Sangha; FW: IM Vijayan, Alvito D'Cunha, Abdul Hakkim, RC Prakash, Mohammed Najeeb, Hardip Gill.
Coach: Sukhwinder Singh; Technical director: Krishnaji Rao; Goalkeeping coach: Brahmanand Shankwalkar.

9th Women's National Championship - Quarterfinal-League - Group E: Manipur 6-0 Orissa
9th Women's National Championship - Quarterfinal-League - Group E: Maharashtra 1-1 Kerala

36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster IV: Punjab 2-0 Andhra Pradesh - Goals: 1:0 Jitender Kumar (76'), 2:0 Pradeep Singh (78').
36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster IV: Orissa 2-0 Rajasthan - Goals: 1:0 Bijaya Roy (28'), 2:0 Etwa Raju.
36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster V: Haryana 3-1 Tripura - Goals: 1:0,3:1 Ashamjeet Singh (17',76'), 2:0 Navdeep Bharati (56'), 2:1 Amitava Das (57').

20. May
ASIAN WORLD CUP QUALIFIER - GROUP 8 - Bangalore: INDIA 5-0 BRUNEI - Goals: 1:0 Jules Alberto (12'), 2:0 IM Vijayan (23'), 3:0 Baichung Bhutia (35'), 4:0 Jo Paul Ancheri (59'), 5:0 Abdul Hakkim (76').
INDIA: Narshiman Balaji, Surkumar Singh, Deepak Kumar Mondal, Roberto Fernandes, KV Dhanesh, Jules Alberto (Abdul Hakkim), Khalid Jamil, Jo Paul Ancheri, Renedy Singh (Shanmugam Venkatesh), Baichung Bhutia, IM Vijayan (Alvito D'Cunha).
BRUNEI: Muhammad Wardun Yussof, Haji Hassan, Shahril Ismail (Zulkefi Duraman), Adee Suhardee Muhidin, Muhammad Helme Panjang, Muhammad Sadiy Abdullah, Abang Norsillmy Taha, Mohammad Ali Momin, Mohammad Rosanan Samak (Zurkumi Dawat), Rosmini Kahar (Tommy Kambang), Jasriman Johari.
Referee: Nail Lutfullin (Uzbekistan)
For complete match reports and much much more Click here .

9th Women's National Championship - Quarterfinal-League - Group F: Bengal 1-0 Bihar
9th Women's National Championship - Quarterfinal-League - Group F: Punjab 5-0 Assam

36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster III: Tamil Nadu 4-1 Himachal Pradesh - Goals: 1:0 Hari Narayanan (27'), 2:0,3:1,4:1 Padamanbhan (30',70',76'), 2:1 Vijayant Thapa (59').
36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster III: Assam 1-0 Delhi - Goal: 1:0 Brijab Mushhary (26').
36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster VI: Karnataka 5-0 Jammu&Kashmir - Goals: 1:0 M Vinod (24'), 2:0,3:0 D Murali (26',40'), 4:0 Venugopal (67'), 5:0 T Shamu (70').

19. May
9th Women's National Championship - Quarterfinal-League - Group E: Manipur 8-0 Kerala
9th Women's National Championship - Quarterfinal-League - Group E: Maharashtra 3-1 Orissa

36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster IV: Punjab 0-1 Orissa - Goal: 0:1 Sarwar Ali (37').
36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster IV: Andhra Pradesh 0-0 Rajasthan - Goals: none.
36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster VI: Karnataka 0-1 Uttar Pradesh - Goal: 0:1 JaI Prakash Yadav (18').

Note-1: Indian Internationals IM Vijayan and Jo Paul Ancheri have been signed by Calcutta giants East Bengal, the reigning NFL champions, for the new season. For the current FC Kochin players, it's a 'return' in a way to the country's football capital as they had played for the other Calcutta giant Mohun Bagan in the past.

18. May
9th Women's National Championship - Quarterfinal-League - Group F: Bengal 10-0 Assam
9th Women's National Championship - Quarterfinal-League - Group F: Punjab 1-1 Bihar

36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster I: Bihar - Goa
36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster I: Chandigarh - Meghalaya
36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster II: Kerala - Madhya Pradesh
36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster II: Pondicherry - Gujarat

Note-1: Thanks to Anil Justus for the Merdeka Cup Groupings and Fixtures!
Of interest is that India once again meet the UAE and sadly do not meet the opposition from Europe in the group stage of the tournament. It will be a good test before the team flies out to England in July!
Group A: Slovakia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bahrain, Malaysia; Group B: Thailand, UAE, India, Malaysia Under-23
June 21: Slovakia - Bosnia Herzegovina, Malaysia - Bahrain
June 22: Thailand - UAE, Malaysia Under-23 - India
June 23: Bosnia Herzegovina - Bahrain, Malaysia - Slovakia
June 24: Malaysia U-23 - UAE, India - Thailand
June 25: Bahrain - Slovakia, Malaysia - Bosnia Herzegovina
June 26: UAE - India, Malaysia U-23 - Thailand
June 28: Winner Group A - Runner-up Group B, Winner Group B - Runner-up Group A
June 30: Final

17. May
9th Women's National Championship - Group A: Orissa 6-0 Chandigarh
9th Women's National Championship - Group B: Punjab 5-0 Madhya Pradesh
9th Women's National Championship - Group C: Maharashtra 5-1 Haryana
9th Women's National Championship - Group C: Karnataka 1-0 Delhi

36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster IV: Punjab 6-0 Rajasthan - Goals: 1:0,4:0 Jitender Kumar (34',54'), 2:0,3:0 Pradeep Singh (38',48'), 5:0,6:0 Shivaraj (79',80').
36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster IV: Andhra Pradesh 0-0 Orissa - Goals: none.
36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster VI: Uttar Pradesh 4-0 Jammu&Kashmir - Goals: 1:0 Rajender Singh Raju (3'), 2:0 Jai Prakash Yadav (24'), 3:0 Nirmal Khatri, 4:0 Hemchand Joshi (67').

Note-1: The SAFF Championship under the aegis of Asian Football Confederation will be held from January 26 to February 7, 2002 in Bangladesh.

16. May
9th Women's National Championship - Group C: Maharashtra 3-0 Karnataka
9th Women's National Championship - Group C: Haryana 3-0 Delhi
9th Women's National Championship - Group D: Bihar 10-0 Rajasthan
9th Women's National Championship - Group D: Goa 8-1 Meghalaya

36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster I: Goa 0-0 Meghalaya - Goals: none.
36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster I: Bihar 5-0 Chandigarh - Goals: 1:0,2:0,4:0 Krishna Tudu (38',40',?'), 3:0 Subhash Chakraborty (49'), 5:0 Shylo (57').
36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster II: Kerala 4-1 Pondicherry - Goals: 1:0 Sivadath Roni (4'), 2:0,3:0, 4:1 Binoop (8',27',65'), 3:1 Manoj (61').
36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster II: Madhya Pradesh 3-0 Gujarat - Goals: 1:0,2:0 Nishant (13',60'), 3:0 Roopesh (76').

Note-1: The planned India Club Cup will not be held. In an emergency meeting of the IFA (Bengal), it didn't take long to take the decision. It also okayed a new proposal - to invite a club of international repute for a two-three match promotional tour in the third week of June.
Blaming the AIFF squarely for their predicament vis-a-vis the India Cup, IFA joint-secretary Ranjit Gupta explained at a press conference the country's apex body wanted certain unreasonable conditions to be met before permission could be granted for the international club-level tournament.
A letter from AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco, dated May 9, granted IFA 'provisional permission' to hold the tournament provided three conditions were met within 10 days. It's condition No. 2 which dealt IFA the knockout punch.

15. May
9th Women's National Championship - Group A: Tripura 1-0 Chandigarh
9th Women's National Championship - Group B: Punjab 8-1 Uttar Pradesh
9th Women's National Championship - Group B: Madhya Pradesh 5-0 Andhra Pradesh

36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster I: Goa 1-0 Chandigarh - Goal: 1:0 Vollen de Basta (47').
36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster I: Bihar 3-0 Meghalaya - Goals: 1:0,3:0 Syed Rahim Nabi (6',90'), 2:0 Krishna Tudu (74').
36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster II: Kerala 6-0 Gujarat - Goals: 1:0,4:0,6:0 AB Khabir (9',55',60'), 2:0 Binoop (26'), 3:0 Dileep (33'), 5:0 Sivadath Roni (53').
36.BC Roy Trophy - Pre-Quarterfinal - Cluster II: Madhya Pradesh 1-0 Pondicherry - Goal: 1:0 Althafuddin (18').

Note-1: The President of Dempo SC, Srinivas V Dempo announced today that their football team would not be disbanded despite the fact that they could not qualify for the prestigious National League.
"We are retaining the team. The players have sportingly accepted a cut in their remuneration for the love of football and the love of the club," Mr Dempo stated. "It is solely due to the sporting cooperation from the players that we have managed to do with a reduced budget for 2001-02 season. I must compliment the players for their attitude," Mr Dempo added.
"Overall, the pressure from the die-hard fans and the gesture from the players were the overriding factors that forced us to do some rethinking about the disabandonment. The coach and the players have given me an assurance that they will go all out to secure the Goa Professioonal League title as well as to qualify for the main National Football League the next season," Mr Dempo remarked. "Their sentiments had to be reciprocated."
"Basically ours is one of the oldest team, having contributed substantially for the uplift of the game. It is in keeping with the traditions of the House of Dempos that we have retained the team," Mr Dempo added.

14. May
9th Women's National Championship - Group B: Punjab 23-0 Andhra Pradesh
9th Women's National Championship - Group C: Maharashtra 12-0 Delhi
9th Women's National Championship - Group D: Bihar 2-1 Goa
9th Women's National Championship - Group D: Meghalaya 5-0 Rajasthan

13. May
9th Women's National Championship - Group A: Orissa 3-0 Tripura
9th Women's National Championship - Group B: Madhya Pradesh 1-0 Uttar Pradesh
9th Women's National Championship - Group C: Haryana 3-1 Karnataka

12. May
ASIAN WORLD CUP QUALIFIER - GROUP 8 - Bandar Seri Begawan: BRUNEI 0-1 INDIA - Goal: 0:1 Jo Paul Ancheri (78').
BRUNEI: Jefry Mohammad, Shahril Ismail, Adee Muhidin, Mohammad Panjang (Suni Jerah), Ideris Lupat (Haji Hassan Damit), Mohamad Abdullah, Abang Taha, Mohammad Momin, Rosmani Kahar (Rosanan Samak), Ediruslan Samad, Jasriman Johari.
INDIA: Virender Singh, KV Dhanesh, Deepak Mondal, Mahesh Gawli, Surkumar Singh, Renedy Singh (Shanmugam Venkatesh), Khalid Jamil (RP Singh), Jo Paul Ancheri, Jules Alberto, IM Vijayan (Alvito D'Cunha), Baichung Bhutia.
Referee: Haasan Abdullah Al Ajmi (Oman)
For complete match reports and much much more Click here .

9th Women's National Championship - Group D: Meghalaya 0-6 Bihar
9th Women's National Championship - Group D: Goa 16-0 Rajasthan

Note-1: Chandu Roy Chowdhury will coach Mohammedan Sporting Club during the forthcoming football season, according to club secretary Sulaiman Khurshid.
The former Tollygunge Agragami coach, under whose guidance Bengal won the Santosh Trophy in 1999. He was instrumental in pushing Tollygunge to the National League. Later the club decided to switch to the more tried and tested coach Amal Dutta.

11. May
A long-standing row between the All India Football Federation and the India Football Association may mar the high-profile India Club Cup tournament scheduled next month.
The IFA (the governing body of the game in West Bengal) had taken Indian governing body the AIFF to the court on financial irregularities last year. The case was filed by IFA joint-secretary Ranjit Gupta, organising secretary of the India Cup.
The AIFF now wants the IFA to withdraw the court case and has set that as one of the pre-conditions for the state association to host the tournament.
Four foreign teams have confirmed for the tournament, but the IFA feels the AIFF may spoil its show by raking up the old court case. "On the face of it, the court case is a separate issue. Why should it be set as a pre-condition for us hosting the India Cup?" Gupta asked.
The IFA joint-secretary earned the wrath of AIFF president Priya Ranjan Das Munshi after Gupta opposed his re-election as president of the national federation last year.
The IFA had initially planned the India Cup in January this year, but cancelled it because the AIFF had wanted to host the Millennium Cup during that time. "Das Munshi had given us an assurance that he would provide all help when the IFA would host the Cup in June," Gupta said.

10. May
Note-1: India will play three friendly matches on their second consecutive tour of England in July 2001!
According to news received India will face first division club Watford FC on July 21, another first division outfit Wolverhampton Wanderers on July 25 and newly promoted Premiership club Blackburn Rovers on July 28. After the successful tour of England last summer, Sapphire are once again taking the task of bringing the Indian team to England.

Note-2: India have been confirmed as participants of the Merdeka Cup 2001!
Originally scheduled as a six-team tournament, the Football Association of Malaysia decided to extend invitations to both the UAE and India to make it an eight-team competition. The other participants are the Malaysian senior team, the Malaysian under-23 squad, Thailand, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovakia and Bahrain. The tournament will be held in June.

9. May
Note-1: Brazil's Santos club has confirmed their entry for the India Cup football tournament, scheduled to be held in the city from June 2 to 12.
According to IFA joint-secretary Ranjit Gupta, the players' list sent by the Brazil club includes former Colombian international Freddy Rincon. Announcing this at the IFA governing body meeting today, the official said the AIFF has given the go-ahead and a clearance from the Asian Football Confederation is awaited.
The other foreign teams to have confirmed participation are Argentinos Juniors, AEK Athens and Iran's Sapia FC.
The IFA wants to invite East Bengal and Mohun Bagan but the city giants are unlikely to prepare their teams fully by then. The official said there will be a series of matches involving fewer teams in case such a situation arises.

Note-2: Might Dempo Sports Club go the SESA Goa way and disband their team? Might Goa loose another of it's big teams? Questions over questions...
Srinivas V Dempo, President of the football club, has made statements in the Goan press which keeps all options open regarding the future of the Dempo SC football team. The Dempo management is 'currently critically analysing the situation' and will take a decision soon.
Dempo and Indian football fans from all over the world have written to the team management not to disband the team, as it would affect the future of Indian football...
A call from indianfootball.com to the DEMPO SC management: Please do not disband the team!!!

8. May
East Bengal club will felicitate its players for winning the National Football League on May 19!
Announcing this, club secretary Dipak Chakraborty said today that a cultural programme will also be held that day to mark the ceremony. He however said players will be given no cash awards for their feat. East Bengal lifted the coveted trophy for the first time.

7. May
The All India Football Federation is taking a leaf out of the Indian Cricket Board's book in trying to raise funds for the game in the country.
The AIFF is planning to invite tenders for sponsorships of all major football tournaments in the country.
An AIFF advertisement to this effect is expected to appear in major national dailies in a week's time, according to federation secretary Albert Colaco.
This unprecedented move by the AIFF is the brainchild of its marketing committee that has among others, liquor baron Vijay Mallya.
Mallya's United Breweries sponsors high profile Calcutta clubs Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting, as well as Kerala giants FC Kochin.
The AIFF's first project on which tenders will be invited is the Federation Cup, the official club championship which was last held in 1998. The AIFF plans to restart the Federation Cup in August, but only after a sponsor is found, Colaco said.
The AIFF has suffered from bad marketing of the game in the past.
Leisure Sports Management, which used to be the marketing arm of the AIFF, failed to do a good job and among the major loses had been the falling through of a television rights deal with STAR TV. The government-run Doordarshan bailed out the AIFF this season by buying the rights.
The National League that ended last week ran without a title-sponsor for the first time in five years.
The 1.74 million dollar budget was largely raised from Doordarshan, Colaco admitted.
Mallya is expected to play a big role in garnering funds for the AIFF. The UB supremo is expected to consult his company executives to chalk the best plans for sponsorships.
"We will interact directly with corporates and even ask event managers to send quotations," said Colaco.
The AIFF, which has failed to produce a national calendar in recent years leading to chaos for both clubs and players, hopes to do better this year. Colaco promises to have a calendar ready by the first week of June.
"We have more or less scheduled the major tournaments. The calendar is only waiting for ratification from the executive committee,'' the AIFF secretary said.

6. May
Due to an improvement in form, India's national football side have been invited to the prestigious Merdeka Cup football tournament in Malaysia next month.
AIFF secretary Albert Colaco said the invitation was received on Saturday after organisers of the tournament had earlier this year made a verbal request.
But India's 1-0 win against the United Arab Emirates during a World Cup Group Eight qualifier last month has now earned them an official invitation.
"Our win against UAE in Bangalore and the general form of our team has attracted the Merdeka Cup organisers," said the AIFF secretary. India last played in the high-profile Merdeka Cup 15 years ago.
Colaco will be in Bombay on Sunday to pick the Indian team for the competition. The secretary indicated that there would be little change in the current national squad. Colaco said Sukhwinder Singh would remain the Indian coach.
The availability of Indian team captain Baichung Bhutia was, however, a matter of concern for the AIFF.
Colaco said since Bhutia was expected to be in India till July, he was likely to assist the Indian team.
"If he does, Bhutia will surely lead the team," Colaco said.
However, the invite could prove troublesome to the Indian Football Association as they had scheduled the India Club Cup championships at the same time as the Merdeka Cup in Calcutta from June 3-10.
Three foreign club sides, Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and an Indian selection were scheduled to play in the Indian event.
Colaco said he would discuss the date clash with IFA officials.
"We want the IFA to stage the Club Cup. It will be a good opportunity for fans to see some top foreign sides," Colaco said.

5. May
The Asian Football Confederation has adjudged Indian football coach Sukhwinder Singh as the Motorola coach for the month of April. He becomes the first Indian coach to receive this prestigious award.
Sukhwinder said it was a great honour. "I owe the award to my boys," said the coach from Sana'a, Yemen.
Giving the reasons behind choosing the JCT Mills coach for the award, AFC said "Sukhwinder Singh, who took over from Islam Akhmedov as India's coach in February, has been named the Motorola Coach of the Month after guiding his country to a surprise 1-0 victory over the UAE in their opening match in Group 8 of Asia's World Cup qualifiers.
"Despite having only three weeks in prepare his squad, Singh - who had previously led India to victory in the 1999 SAFF Cup - saw his team defeat the group favourites UAE, courtesy of a 72st minute goal by Jules Alberto."

Note-1: Nigerian footballer Chima Okerie, serving a suspension for hitting a referee in 1999, has again hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons - allegedly assaulting a photo journalist of a leading Bengali daily.
As per the FIR lodged by the lensman of 'Pratidin' Okerie beat him up in an office in the central part of the city where the Nigerian had reportedly gone to negotiate with Tollygunge Agragami officials for donning the club's jersey next season.
Okerie also broke his camera by throwing it on the floor before leaving the place in a huff, the FIR said.
The lensman later lodged a complaint at the Bowbazar police station.
Okerie, regarded as one of the most lethal strikers in the Calcutta Maidan, is currently under suspension by the IFA - Bengal for manhandling referee Bikash Mukherjee at the Saltlake Stadium two years ago.

4. May
ASIAN WORLD CUP QUALIFIER - GROUP 8 - SANA'A: Yemen 3-3 India - Goals: 1:0,2:1,3:3 Adel Al Salemi (13',20',62'), 1:1,2:2 Jo Paul Ancheri (16',38'), 3:3 IM Vijayan (51').
YEMEN: Faozi Omar (Muaadh Abdulkhaleq), Anwar Ahmed (Ali Mohammed), Khaled Mohamed, Salem Abdullah, Abdulsalam Hamood, Ali Al Nono, Fadhl Mohammed, Abrahim Ali, Adel Ali Salemi (Mohammed Salem), Mohammed Ahmed, Ali Awadh.
INDIA: Virender Singh, Surkumar Singh (KV Dhanesh), Deepak Mondal, Mahesh Gawli, Ratan Singh, Jules Alberto, Khalid Jamil, Joe Paul Ancheri, Renedy Singh (RP Singh), IM Vijayan, RC Prakash (Alvito D'Cunha).
Referee: Suleman Abo Allo (Syria).
For complete match reports and much much more Click here .

Note-1: The AIFF has confirmed the Indian team's participation in the Afro-Asian Games to be held in New Delhi from November 3 to 11 this year.
The Indian football team's participation in the Afro-Asiad had become doubtful as the games were clashing with the SAFF Cup to be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on the same dates.
But AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco, in a letter to Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi, dispelled all doubts when he assured the participation of the football team in the Afro-Asiad.

3. May
After Baichung Bhutia is forced to sit out in tomorrow's World Cup 2002 Qualifier tie in Sana'a against Yemen, the other Indian star striker IM Vijayan will lead the INDIA team.
A funny sequence from Sana'a: The Indian team reached Sana'a on May 1 but the Indian Embassy was not informed about it. As a result the officials were disappointed that none of them could go to the airport to receive the team.

Note-1: The AIFF has released the dates for four different nationals which will be held in the span of the next 35 days, expanding the season into June after the season was already expanded into the month of May.
Dates of Nationals:

Note-2: Shabbir Ali, the fired Mahindra United coach, will take charge of Calcutta Super Division qualifiers Bhratri Sangha in the upcoming season. The former National coach, with whom the agreement has been finalised only on Tuesday, is expected to start practice from May 20.
Rechristened as Central Revenue Sports Limited Bhratri Sangha, the team emerged champions in first division group A last year under the guidance of Amal Datta. The veteran coach subsequently left the club in favour of Tollygunge Agragami for the latter's campaign in National League.
Much like Datta, the coaching career of Shabbir has seen a roller coaster ride so far. Barely two seasons ago, he guided Salgaocar to their only NFL crown so far before moving onto the Mumbai-based Mahindras last season. The jeepmen, however, failed to shine under him and ended in the seventh position with 25 points.
While the new coach could not be contacted for comments, the Bhratri top brass were happy that Shabbir had agreed to their offer. "Our aim will be certainly to finish among the top four or five so that we can qualify for the 2nd division NFL," said Benoy Sarkar of CRSL Bhratri Sangha.

1. May
The first batch of football trainees of Sesa Goa Football Academy who were set to join the professional clubs at the end of the current season will have to wait for another one year as the officials at the academy have decided to keep them under training for another season.
The Sanquelim-based Sesa Goa Football Academy, which was set up after the disbanding of Sesa Goa Sports Club, was to release their first batch to play in the 2001-2002 season.
However, the management decided otherwise and extended the stay of the boys by another one year to fine tune the game of the players and to give them more exposure.
The trainees, who are all in the under-19 and under-15 age group, have excelled in the third division league matches held at Duler grounds, Mapusa, making it to the second division league for the 2001-2002 season.