30. October
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Group C: Goa 2-1 Karnataka - Goals: 1-0 Jules Alberto (3'), 2-0 Sukhdev Arwade (38'), 2-1 S Paramesh (56').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Group D: Manipur 2-2 Tamil Nadu - Goals: 0-1 Kalia Koluthungan (6'), 1-1 Uttam Singh (24'), 2-1 Tiken Singh (69'), 2-2 A Kumaravel (90+').

29. October
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Group A: Kerala 3-1 Assam - Goals: 0-1 Sanjiva Rongpi (37'), 1-1 K Dineesh (71'), 2-1 Sylvester Ignatius (77'), 3-1 Abdul Naushad (90').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Group B: Railways 0-2 Services - Goals: 0-1,0-2 Pritam Bahadur (13',58').

Note-1: Which was supposed to be the inaugural match of the 7th National League between holders Mohun Bagan AC and runners-up Churchill Brothers SC, on November 15, at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda in Goa in all likelihood will have to be postponed to a later date. This follows Mohun Bagan's entry into the 3rd round of the AFC Champions League, where they play away at Taejon Citizen of Korea in the first-leg on November 13. The Calcutta giants are not too keen to begin their NFL campaign on November 15 as they will get only a day's rest after a long journey. Joint secretary of the Goa FAs Administrative Committee, Agnelo Mascarenhas confirmed that the draw circulated to the NFL clubs in Goa and the organising committee members of the league was only tentative and that a lot of changes are likely to be made.

28. October
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Group C: Goa 2-1 Punjab - Goals: 0-1 Sher Singh (17'), 1-1 Covan Lawrence (42'), 2-1 Alvito D'Cunha (44').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Group D: Tamil Nadu 2-1 Orissa - Goals: 0-1 Saroj Kanta Patnaik (19'), 1-1,2-1 P Muthu (24',28').

Note-1: Football crazy Manipuris are returning disheartened from the Khuman Lampak Stadium after the organizers hiked ticket rates to Rs 30 / 50 from Rs 10 / 30 respectively. The All Manipur Football Association hiked the gate money from the quarterfinal league making a big difference in the turn-out of spectators from the preliminaries.
The local media also criticized the hike in the ticket rates of two galleries and felt that it would hamper the popularity of football in the State. They also took a serious view of the unavailability of tea and water from the organizers even though they had to cover two matches for four hours daily.
To keep at par with the new rate, tea and chana sellers had also doubled the prices of their wares. Coffee in plastic cups cost Rs 10 and chana (gram) less than 50 gm comes for Rs 5 inside the stadium.

27. October
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Group A: Kerala 3-2 Bengal - Goals: 0-1 Chandan Das (20'), 1-1,2-1 Sylvester Ignatius (31',58'), 2-2 Sandip Das (79'), 3-2 T Usman (87').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Group B: Maharashtra 1-0 Railways - Goal: 1-0 Naushad Moosa (37').

Note-1: The Navhind Times reports from Goa: While censuring the former executive secretary of the Goa FA, Aggie Alcassoas for his acts of omission and commission, the general body meeting today decided to recover the outstanding amounts and institute legal civil as well as criminal proceedings and further debarred him from holding a post in the committee or sub-committee of the association. Mr Alcassoas did not attend the meeting since he was away in London. The motion was unanimously passed by 86 members who attended the adjourned meeting presided over by Vilas V Sardessai, former senior AIFF vice-president in Panaji. The decision to take action against the then secretary was a sequel to the report of the ad-hoc finance committee comprising Alex Fred D'Sousa, Vishwas Vaingankar and Pradeep Padgaonkar which was tabled at the reconvened meeting. The three-member panel was set up on July 21 to investigate the financial irregularities and suggest/recommend suitable measures for transparent conduct of money and other related matters of the GFA.
"There has been absolutely no fiscal discipline in the accounts that have been examined. Huge cash amounts have been held in hand, match receipts have not been banked within 24 hours, dubious bills have been accepted, vouchering has been improper, receipts have been back-dated and not signed, signatures of actual recipients/payee have not been recorded on vouchers/payment statements, sizeable transport bills do not show details of users and mileage, expenses have been incurred whimsically, incentives and gifts have been announced whimsically, expensive functions were held and books of accounts have entries erased and overwritten," the finance committee pointed out in its 16-page report.
The move for severe punishment was proposed by Joaquim Alemao, MLA, former president and seconded by Anthony Botelho and Noel Lima Leitao and passed unanimously. In order to have strict financial discipline, the house appointed Alex de Sousa, Vishwas Vaingainkar and Predeep Padgaonkar as internal auditors with powers to carry out periodic, regular checks.

26. October
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Group C: Punjab 0-2 Karnataka - Goals: 0-1 Mahendra Mani (22'), 0-2 Sunil S Kumar (30').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Group D: Manipur 4-1 Orissa - Goals: 1-0,4-1 Bijen Singh (9',82'), 1-1 Premchand Singh (36'), 2-1 Tiken Singh (38'), 3-1 Tomba Singh (60').

Note-1: Vision 2004 and Project 2006 - are the elaborate plan to prepare the Indian teams for the various international meets in the coming years.
Vision 2004 and Project 2006 are long-term programmes chalked out by the AIFF. Encouraged by the success of the Indian U23s, 20s and 17s in Asian tournaments, the AIFF has realised that it needs to start planning long-term for more success.
AIFF president, Das Munshi, announced this at a meet-the-Press organised by the Calcutta Sports Journalists Club that the current U17 and U20 national teams will be trained to don national colours at the 2004 Asian Nations Cup and Olympics, and in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers. "These boys have a lot of potential and will form the backbone of our campaigns in 2004 and 2006," Das Munshi said further. Whether Uzbek Islam Akhmedov will remain in charge of the India juniors will be decided on Thursday.
"One England tour a year will not suffice. We need to participate in at least eight-nine competitions every year".
On the foreign coach issue, he said "It is quite clear that long term training under an experienced foreign coach is essential if India are to emerge as a soccer power". However, for the Under-14 side, to be selected from among five best school level talents from each region, local coaches would be deployed.
Alongwith the national sides, the AIFF was considering a host of measures for improving the club football as well. This includes appointment of only licenced coaches for the clubs, financial help and assisting them to find sponsors.
"We have asked our new marketing agent to work on improving the finances of AIFF for the first two years. After that, once our revenue generation is geared up, we will allot some part to make the clubs financially stable," he said.
About Indian origin players faring well elsewhere, he said there was umpteen number of such players but citizenship issue posed a hurdle in including them in Indian squad.
When pointed out that Mohun Bagan's ace Brazilian striker Jose Barreto has expressed willingness to obtain citizenship and play for the country, he said "let him approach first. The federation will extend all help".

Note-2: The Karnataka State FA hoped to find a quick solution to the problem triggered by the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike's move to terminate the lease agreement of the land in the Ashoknagar area. The BMP Council had passed a resolution approving termination of the lease agreement yesterday. The move had come as a surprise to the KSFA, which had received the land in 1975 on a 99-year lease for constructing the football stadium. BMP stated that the state FA had violated the agreement by sub-leasing the area for commercial ventures. KSFA had furnished an explanation to the BMP when a notice was issued to them some time back. The decision to terminate the lease agreement could have serious consequences for the FA which had lined up plans to develop the infrastructure in the area to boost the game. The most important among these was the National Football Academy, which was to come up at the Bangalore Football stadium with financial assistance from FIFA.

25. October
AFC U20 Championship, Qatar - Quarterfinal: India U20 0-7 Korea U20 - Goals: 0-1,0-6 Kim Dong Hun (47',82'), 0-2 Kwon Jip (50'), 0-3 Cho Sung Yoon (55'), 0-4 Jung Jo Gook (57'), 0-5 Kim Su Heung (76'), 0-7 Choi Sung Kuk (84').
INDIA: Veeraswamy Palaninivelu Satish Kumar (60' Imran Khan); Yumlembam Raju Singh, Amandeep Singh, Rocus Lamare; Thokchom Bungo Singh, Shylo Malswam Tulunga, Bhuvan Chandra Joshi (67' Birjab Machahary), Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep, Subhas Chakraborty; Syed Rahim Nabi, Ashim Biswas.
click here for the match report
click here for the India U20 squad

AFC Champions League, Round 2 - Leg 2: Saigon Port (Vietnam) 1-0 Churchill Brothers SC - Goals: 1-0 Nguyen Ngoc Thanh (90').
Churchill Brothers SC win 2-1 on aggregate and qualify for the third Round qualifiers of the AFC Champions League!

58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Group A: Bengal 2-1 Assam - Goals: 1-0 Dipendu Biswas (6'), 2-0 Amar Pyne (38'), 2-1 Sanjiva Rongpi (65').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Group B: Maharashtra 1-1 Services - Goals: 1-0 Altafuddin Ahmed (2'), 1-1 Pradeep Debnath (48').

23. October
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster III: Punjab 1-0 Mizoram - Goal: 1-0 Sher Singh (88').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster V: Assam 3-0 Bihar - Goals: 1-0 Utpal Basumatary (6'), 2-0 Saran Sonar (58'), 3-0 Sanjiva Rongpi (79').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster VI: Services 3-0 Sikkim - Goals: 1-0 Jhoney P Gangmei (39'), 2-0 Pritam Bahadur (56'), 3-0 Raghu Kumar (57').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster VII: Haryana 1-2 Tripura - Goals: 1-0 Satya Singh (30'), 1-1,1-2 Swapan Rai (37',77').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster VII: Karnataka 6-0 Gujarat - Goals: 1-0 Sunil S Kumar (34'), 2-0,4-0 BV Pradeep (52',72'), 3-0,5-0 SK Dayanand (62',79'), 6-0 Kanika Raj (60').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster VIII: Orissa 3-0 Nagaland - Goals: 1-0,3-0 Gyanaranjan (38',86'), 2-0 Bhabani Prasad Mohanty (66').

22. October
AFC U20 Championship, Qatar - Group B: India U20 - Saudi Arabia U20 - Goals: 0-1 Eisa MH Al Mahyani (7'), 0-2 Abdullah AA Al Dosari (41'), 0-3 Ali J Sh Sabahi (46'), 0-4 Abdoh IY Autef (52').
Yellow Card: Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep (10'), Palash Karmakar (16').
Red Card(s): Prasant Jaggi (1').
INDIA: Veeraswamy Palaninivelu Satish Kumar; Yumlembam Raju Singh, Prasant Jaggi, Palash Karmakar, Rocus Lamare, Manas Das (26' Subhas Chakraborty); Thokchom Bungo Singh (73' Sutang Marlanki), Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep; Syed Rahim Nabi, Ashim Biswas.
click here for the match report
click here for the India U20 squad

AFC Champions League, Round 2 - Leg 2: Club Valencia (Maldives) 0-3 Mohun Bagan AC - Goals: 0-1 Baichung Bhutia (4'), 0-2 George Ekeh (35'), 0-3 Jose Barreto (49').
Mohun Bagan win 5-2 on aggregate and qualify for the third Round qualifiers of the AFC Champions League!

58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster I: Bengal 5-0 Jammu & Kashmir - Goals: 1-0,2-0,4-0 Dipendu Biswas (3',24',67'), 3-0 Surya Bikash Chakraborty (64'), 5-0 Anupam Sarkar (83').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster II: Maharashtra 3-2 Meghalaya - Goals: 1-0 Aziz Quereshi (51'), 2-0 Anthony Fernandes (71'), 2-1 Sam Kharbhi (72'), 2-2 Freddy Kharpran (77'), 3-2 Altafuddin Ahmed (78').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster IV: Manipur 9-0 Pondicherry - Goals: 1-0 Sanaton Singh (1'), 2-0,5-0,7-0,9-0 Tiken Singh (3',44',70',87'), 3-0,4-0 Bijen Singh (40',41'), 6-0 James Singh (50'), 8-0 Nilakumar Singh (72').

Note-1: The AIFF has decided that from this year the federation will have a second period for inter-state transfers of players, subject to certain conditions. This has been done under instructions from FIFA. This has been communicated to all the affiliated units of AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco. The second inter-state transfer will be conducted from November 1 to 15. The transfer will be effective as soon as the forms and the "no objection" from the original association are received by the office of the AIFF. However, players who have already taken inter-state transfer in May this year cannot opt to take a second transfer. The forms for the second transfer will be the same as those used in the first phase of transfer, Mr Colaco has informed the state units. All other regulation, including transfer fee, will be the same as during the first transfer period in May 2002.

Note-2: India will take on Bangladesh in their first match in the AFC Under-14 Festival of Football 2002 to be held in Nepal in December. A pilot project for the Under-14 event was launched last year with six teams participating in Iran. This year there will be twenty-nine countries confirmed participation and the AFC stated that the Under-14 Festival of Football would be made an annual affair. Teams are divided based on geographical regions - South East Asia, South Asia, West Asia and East Asia. Teams play within their own regions. Thailand will host the South East Asian group from November 9-15, Nepal for South Asia from November 20-28, Oman in West Asia from January 25-30 and China PR as hosts' for East Asia from November 3-10. There is no centralized mode of competition after the regional championship or AFC level finals. India will take on Bangladesh on Dec 20, Nepal on Dec 22, Sri Lanka on 24th, Maldives on 26th before meeting Bhutan on Dec 28 in their last match. The top team after the round robin matches will be declared the champion, AFC said in a press release on Tuesday. Asad Taqi, AFC Referees Committee, on this tournament: "The Vision Plan for Asian football launched by the AFC President, Mohamed Hammam last month, places heavy emphasis on development and goes down to the grassroots. The Under-14 age-group is at the lowest level of the AFC development pyramid but extremely important for our long-term vision. But we also want the players to first enjoy playing the game and for this reason, we are calling it a festival rather than a championship. Players from this age-group will hopefully graduate to the under-17, under-20, under-23 and eventually make the national teams. We are confident that national associations will make a special effort to put in place programs to cater for this group of players. The AFC will provide the necessary assistance."

21. October
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster III: Punjab 1-0 Madhya Pradesh - Goal: 1-0 Gurjit Singh Atwal (33').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster V: Bihar 1-0 Andhra Pradesh - Goal: 1-0 Suresh Kalandi (58').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster VI: Sikkim 3-0 Uttar Pradesh - Goals: 1-0 Milan Lepcha (34'), 2-0 Kamal Bagdas (44'), 3-0 Ram Rai (89').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster VII: Tripura 4-1 Gujarat - Goals: 1-0 Swapan Rai (10'), 2-0 Sambhu Saha (48'), 3-0,4-1 Premjit Singh Barua (53',64'), 3-1 Ranjit Sisodiya (56').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster VII: Haryana 0-2 Karnataka - Goals: 0-1 SK Dayanand (29'), 0-2 Gregory Clarke (75').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster VIII: Nagaland 1-1 Delhi - Goals: 0-1 Rajesh Arya (45'), 1-1 Vizo Peseyie (90').

20. October
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster I: Bengal 7-0 Rajasthan - Goals: 1-0,3-0,6-0,7-0 Dipendu Biswas (14',40',73',80'), 2-0 Sandip Das (37'), 4-0,5-0 Amar Pyne (41',51').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster II: Maharashtra 2-0 Chandigarh - Goals: 1-0 Naushad Moosa (70'), 2-0 Aziz Quereshi (77')
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster IV: Pondicherry 0-1 Himachal Pradesh - Goal: 0-1 Rahul Sharma (90').

19. October
AFC U20 Championship, Qatar - Group B: India U20 1-2 Japan U20 - Goals: 0-1 Tokunaga Yuhei (40'), 1-1 Thokchom Bungo Singh (60'), 1-2 Sakata Daisuke (65').
Yellow Card: Amandeep Singh (90').
INDIA: Veeraswamy Palaninivelu Satish Kumar; Shivamani Eshwaran (58' Yumlembam Raju Singh), Prasant Jaggi, Rocus Lamare, Palash Karmakar, Amandeep Singh; Thokchom Bungo Singh, Shylo Malswam Tulunga; Syed Rahim Nabi, Sutang Marlanki (86' Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep), Ashim Biswas.
click here for the match report
click here for the India U20 squad

58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster VI: Services 5-0 Uttar Pradesh - Goals: 1-0,2-0,3-0 Pritam Bahadur (26',40',45'), 4-0 Bikash Gurung (49'), 5-0 Thiruna Vakarsu (60').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster VI: Sikkim - Arunachal Pradesh - Info: Sikkim got walkover.
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster VII: Haryana 0-1 Gujarat - Goal: 0-1 Mukesh Kumar (68').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster VII: Karnataka 4-1 Tripura - Goals: 1-0 SK Dayanand (11'), 1-1 Sambhu Saha (21'), 2-1 Jagadish Kumar (68'), 3-1 Sunil S Kumar (76'), 4-1 BV Pradeep (90').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster VIII: Orissa 0-0 Delhi - Goal(s): none.
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster VIII: Nagaland - Andaman Nicobar - Info: Nagaland got walkover.

Goa Professional League: St Anthony's Club 0-2 Cabral Sports Club

18. October
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster I: Jammu & Kashmir 4-0 Rajasthan - Goals: 1-0,3-0 Deepak Sangral (3',83'), 2-0 Rakhesh (62'), 4-0 Manat Kumar (87').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster II: Chandigarh 1-2 Meghalaya - Goals: 0-1 Richard Nongneng (17'), 0-2 Soki Lamara (43'), 1-2 Munish Kumar (58').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster III: Mizoram 2-1 Madhya Pradesh - Goals: 1-0 Joseph Lalnunzira (10'), 2-0 Benjamin Zonunsiama (48'), 2-1 Rahamat Baig (67').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster V: Assam 3-0 Andhra Pradesh - Goals: 1-0 Utpal Basumatary (36'), 2-0 Kamal Chetry (44'), 3-0 Padum Brpha (90').
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster V: Damman & Diu - Bihar - Info: Bihar gets walkover.

Goa Professional League: Salgaocar SC 1-0 Churchill Brothers SC

17. October
58th Santosh Trophy - Imphal; Manipur - Cluster IV: Manipur 8-0 Himachal Pradesh - Goals: 1-0,2-0,6-0,7-0 Bijen Singh (36',51',70',83'), 2-0 Kanta Singh (43'), 4-0 Helen Singh (55'), 5-0 Tomba Singh (62'), 8-0 Tiken Singh (86').

Goa Professional League: Fransa FC 1-1 Sporting Club de Goa

Note-1: For the first time in the history of Goa FA an extraordinary general body meeting will be held on October 27 to dicuss the change in the name from Pax of Nagoa Sporting Club to Fransa Pax Football Club and then into Fransa Football Club at Clube Vasco da Gama.

16. October
AFC U20 Championship, Qatar - Group B: India U20 6-0 Bangladesh U20 - Goals: 1-0,4-0 Sutang Marlanki (13',47'), 2-0,3-0 Syed Rahim Nabi (25',41'), 5-0 Shylo Malswam Tulunga (70'), 6-0 Kumam Samson Hanz Singh (85').
Yellow Card: Palash Karmakar (22')
INDIA: Veeraswamy Palaninivelu Satish Kumar; Prasant Jaggi, Rocus Lamare (89' Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep), Amandeep Singh, Palash Karmakar; Thokchom Bungo Singh, Subhas Chakraborty (68' Birjab Machahary), Shylo Malswam Tulunga; Syed Rahim Nabi, Sutang Marlanki (53' Kumam Samson Hanz Singh), Ashim Biswas.
click here for the match report
click here for the India U20 squad

Goa Professional League: Vasco SC 2-1 Dempo SC

Note-1: Goalkeeper Vinay Singh will lead the 20-member Delhi state team to the 58th Santosh Trophy at Imphal, Manipur.
Goalkeepers: Vinay Singh, Biswajit Halder, Anil Dhiya.
Defenders: Mohd Mobin, Pushpender Kundu, Joginder Rawat, Pardeep, Simon Peter, Mohd Shakir, Manjeev Kumar.
Midfielders: Rishi Kapoor, Subhash Negi, Amit Sharma, Naresh Mann, Devesh Kaushik, Nilesh Kumar.
Forwards: Osman John Ekka, HS Rawat, Kabul Tyagi, Rajesh Arya, Avneet.

15. October
Goa Professional League: St Anthony's Club 0-3 Churchill Brothers SC

Note-1: National League defending champions Mohun Bagan will take on runners-up Churchill Brothers in the inaugural match of National League on November 15 at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, Margao at 1600 h.

Note-2: "The Telegraph" reports, that AIFF president Das Munshi offered former national football coach Syed Nayeemuddin the post of the head of the AIFF's youth development programme. Nayeemuddin: "I'm keen about that project, as and when it starts."

Note-3: Mohun Bagan's AFC Champions League second-round qualifier against Maldives' Valencia has been advanced by a day. According to club officials, the return-leg match, originally scheduled for next Wednesday, will now be played on Tuesday. Bagan leave for Maldives on Friday.

Note-4: The AIFF has allowed Mohun Bagan to organise their home matches in the forthcoming National League on their own. Of the gate receipts, 15 per cent will have to be given to the AIFF. The matches will be organised by Celebrity Management Group, who are already organising Bagan's AFC Champions League matches.

Note-5: Referees called up for the Santosh Trophy: MK Roy (Assam), Subrata Singha (Assam), SK Gupta (Bihar), Kishan Avtar (Delhi), Rizvan ul Haq (Delhi), Benjamin d'Silva (Goa), Walter Pereira (WIFA), Subrata Sarkar (IFA), Harbhajan Singh (Meghalaya), Ch Lama (Sikkim), A Arjunan (SSCB), S Suresh (Tamil Nadu), SH Chakraborty (Tripura), SM Balu (Karnataka), VK Dhahiya (Haryana), Bishwajit Behra (IFA), Shaji Kurien (Kerala), SHA Naqvi (MP), Ksh Sharatchandra, W Kullachandra, L Yaima Singh, L Lokendra, L Gokulnanda, L Kulladhaja (all Manipur).

13. October
Goa Professional League: Vasco SC 1-0 Sporting Club de Goa

Note-1: Peter Velappan, the secretary-general of the Asian Football Confederation, missed watching his adopted country Malaysia shock Pakistan for the bronze medal, but reached on time to the Gangseo Hockey Stadium to see his birth-nation, India play the final against Korea. "I did not see the Indian football team play here," he said. "But I heard that they played very well. Coach Stephen Constantine called me up and spoke about the matches. Technical people here too inform me that India played good attacking football." India defeated Bangladesh (3-0), Turkmenistan (3-1) and lost to China 0-2 to finish in group C with six points. They failed to advance to the second round as only two best runners-up (Bahrain and North Korea) from all the six groups joined the leaders. "It is a good result for Indian football," he added. "They have not been shamed and were close to advancing to the quarterfinals." He blamed the local organisers for the confusion on the quarterfinal line-up. "The AFC was always clear about it," he said. "We had to issue a note only to emphasise the rules and inform the teams about it. It was never a question of teams from B-C-D or A-E-F."

Note-2: The Jammu and Kashmir FA has announced a 19-member team, including coach, for the forthcoming 58th Santosh Trophy to be held at Imphal, Manipur.
Goalkeepers: Rajesh Samoria (captain), Hilal Rasool, Sonu Kumar.
Defenders: Moon Madan, Zahoor Ahmad, Shabir Ahmad, Sajid Yousaf Dar, Javed Ahmed, Gowhar John Parry, Imran Rafiq.
Midfielders: Manzoor Ahmad Dar, Manoj Kumar, Intiklab Ahmad Beg, Rakesh Kumar.
Forwards: Deepak Sangral, Rajesh Sumbria, Manzoor Ahmad, Amar Deep Singh, Noor Ahmed.

Note-3: The Western India Football Association will ask its affiliate, the Mumbai District Football Association, to inquire why elite division champion club, Mahindra United, did not release its players for the Maharashtra team for the Santosh Trophy national championship which begins in Manipur from 17 October. Only one Mahindra player, defender Jinto Jose, made it to the 22-man state squad although 12 of them were initially called for the preparatory camp. The rest opted out due to injuries, for which they submitted medical certificates, or other reasons, leaving the state squad considerably depleted. Most of the squad's key players have been supplied by rivals Air-India. "Since Mahindra United are affiliated to the MDFA, we will request them to find out why the club could not release its players for state duty. After that our executive committee will take a decision in the matter," Mr Wali Mohammed, WIFA assistant secretary said today. "But isn't it strange that players who played a match on Oct 5 (Mahindras played their concluding elite division match against Air-India on that day) reported injured on Oct 7 when they were supposed to join the camp?" Mahindra United coach Harish Rao however said there was no hanky panky and the players who submitted medical certificates like RC Prakash, Khalid Siddique, Peter Siddique and others were actually injured. James Singh has gone to play for Manipur and Praveen Arora, who was to play for Haryana, got injured. He further explained that out of his five players who finally attended the camp, goalkeeper Sundar Rajan decided to skip the tournament for medical reasons, forward Abbas Ali Rizvi withdrew because he did not get the captaincy. Hence only Jinto Jose made the cut. Although the camp began at the Cooperage here two weeks ago, most players from the elite division, which was then in progress, refused to attend, leaving coach Alphonso Santiago feeling considerably exasperated and helpless. With Mahindras having delivered a ‘parting kick' he will have to make do with meagre resources.
Squad: Radhakrishna Dubey (captain), Rajat Guha, Santosh Shinde, Jinto Jose, Sajeed Ansari, Naushad Moosa, Osbern D'Souza, Abhijit Shinde, Kamal Thapa, Md Rizwan, Stephen Dias, Dennis George, RJ Mahato, Jatin Sahi, Manish Chandra, Aziz Querishi, Anthony Fernandes, Arshad Ansari, Ilyas Ahmed, Joel Mesiah, Mehboob Baig.

12. October
Goa Professional League: Fransa FC 2-2 Dempo SC

Note-1: Mohun Bagan AC on Saturday urged the AIFF for permission to host its home matches during the coming National League. In a letter to AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco, Bagan general secretary Anjan Mitra pointed out that FC Kochin had done the same during the past editions of the tournament. "We think this will be a big step in your efforts to bring in a professional approach in the game in the country," Mitra said in the letter.

Note-2: The Indian U20 team had been sent to Uzbekistan to prepare themselves for the AFC U20 Championship in Qatar. But being a much stronger side, the Uzbeks were able to humiliate India in all the matches. [There are no results available until now.]

11. October
AFC Champions League, Round 2 - Leg 1: Churchill Brothers SC 2-0 Saigon Port (Vietnam) - Goals: 1-0, 2-0 Yusif Yakubu (52', 75')

Note-1: Santo Mitra, Project Director of the national team at the Busan Asian Games, on Friday alleged that India were "ignored and neglected" by Indian Olympic Association officials as well as the tournament committee in Busan. "The football team did not get justice from the tournament committee. But what pained me more is the way my squad was ignored and neglected by the officials who represented the IOA there," Mitra said.
The only Indian squad to have gone Busan at their own cost, the football team could not even get a protest letter typed against the match commissioner's decision to stop chief coach Stephen Constantine from sitting on the bench during the match against Turkmenistan, he said.
Constantine was hauled up for arguing with the referee after the lung opener against Bangladesh for his controversial decision to march out Deepak Mandal for a foul.
"We also were not provided services of a doctor during the Turkmenistan outing," he alleged, adding, "All this happened despite the fact that scores of IOA and SAI officials, doctors and office assistants were sent to Busan at government expense".
While a SAI doctor voluntarily agreed to be with the squad during the Bangladesh match, Mitra had to ask organisers for a local doctor during the second encounter.
"Fortunately, the noted medico Vece Paes (father of Indian tennis ace Leander Paes), who was sent with the tennis team, came to our rescue after the second match to treat injured medio Rennedy Singh," he said. "The daily meetings of team managers and IOA officials were also farcical as none of the top officials were available most of the time," Mitra said.
However, despite such "shabby treatment," the soccer squad, led by a spirited Baichung Bhutia, could leave a mark at the Games, narrowly missing a quarter-final berth. "The Turkmenistan coach sought Bhutia for their club. South Korea's technical committee director said he has not seen such an Indian team for a long time," he said. The team was also congratulated by Malaysian and Japanese officials and referees present at the venue. But, these could hardly compensate for the "injustice" meted out to the Indian squad, he said.
Mitra said that he faced considerable difficulty in arranging return tickets for the players, four of whom including Bhutia were to appear for Mohun Bagan in the AFC Champions League match in Calcutta on October 9, after India lost their last match against China.
"We asked IOA officials to help us re-route our tickets. Nobody took any initiative. I had to call up AIFF president Dasmunshi back home. I had to approach Asian Football Confederation secretary-general Peter Velappan as a last resort," Mitra said.

Note-2: Dulal Biswas will lead a 20-member Bengal squad in the Santosh Trophy at Imphal from October 17. Debjit Ghosh will be Biswas' deputy.
Goalkeepers: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, Prasanta Dora, Amar Deb.
Defenders: Dulal Biswas (captain), Surjya Bikash Chakraborty, Y. Priyakumar, Anupam Sarkar, Falguni Datta, Rabindranath Karmakar, Hussain Mustafi, Debkumar Sashmal
Midfielders: Chandan Das, Debjit Ghosh, Mehtab Hussein, Sandip Das, Indra Seal
Forwards: Dipendu Biswas, Amar Pyne, Ashim Biswas, Rahim Nabi
Stand-byes: Sujoy Datta, Dulal Patra, Madhusudhan Majumdar. Coach: Subrata Bhattacharya.

Note-3: The Goa FA today announced a list of 30 probales for the camp to select the state team for the Santosh Trophy national football championships to be held in Imphal, Manipur from October 17.
Goalkeepers: Kalyan Chaubey (Salgaocar) Felix D'Souza (Sporting), Francis Fernandes (Dempo), Juje Siddi (Salgaocar).
Defenders: Sameer Naik (Dempo), Bibiano Fernandes (Sporting), Mahesh Gawali (Churchill Bros), Covan Lawrence (Salgaocar), Roberto Fernandes (Salgaocar), Selwyn Fernandes (Vasco), Melwyn Rodrigues (Dempo), Alex Colaco (Sporting), Stanley Colaco (Dempo), John Dias (Fransa), Ajay Diwadkar (Sporting).
Midfielders: Climax Lawrence (Salgaocar), Denis Cabral (Salgaocar), Jules Alberto (Vasco), Menino Fernandes (Vasco), Riston Rodrigues (Vasco), Noel Wilson (Churchill), Lazarus Fernandes (Dempo), Savio Pereira (Fransa), Johnny D'Cruz (Dempo), Santa Singh (Vasco).
Forwards: Alex Ambrose (Salgaocar), Alvito D'Cunha (East Bengal), Francis Silveira (Fransa), Nitin Pradhan (Vasco), Sebastiao Endro (Salgaocar).

10. October
All-India BSNL Football Tournament, Goa - Final: Karnataka 4-3 West Bengal
All-India BSNL Football Tournament, Goa - 3rd Place: Kerala 3-0 Maharashtra

Goa Professional League: Salgaocar SC 2-0 Cabral SC

9. October
AFC Champions League, Round 2 - Leg 1: Mohun Bagan AC 2-2 Valencia (Maldives) - Goals: 1-0 Sunil Chettri (24'), 2-0 George Ekeh (48'), 2-1 Mohammed Nizam (49'), 2-2 Ali Ashfaq (59').
Short match report: Indian international Renedy Singh again injured his hamstring in the 22.minute / Baichung Bhutia & the other internationals (including Renedy Singh) arrived in Calcutta from Busan today morning at 9.09 am - so they were not fit, but played. / Bagan had five shots coming off the post (twice Barreto).

51.Bordoloi Trophy - Final: Assam Regimental Centre 1-0 Assam State Electricity Board

8. October
Girls U19 National Football Championship, Diphu;Assam - Final: Manipur 8-0 Orissa

Note-1: The Asian Football Confederation brushed aside India's objections to the format for the Asian Games football tournament, saying it had clarified earlier that only the two best second-placed teams in the preliminary league would qualify for quarterfinals and there was no ambiguity in the regulations, which were circulated to all the teams ahead of the championship. Dismissing the Indian team management's allegation that qualification rules were changed midway through the championship as "not true", tournament committee chairman Tadao Murata said clause 7.5.4 of the regulations say "the teams qualifying first (6 teams) and the two best runners-up teams shall qualify for the quarterfinals". The national team manager Santo Mitra, in a letter to Murata, had complained that the rules of qualification for the quarterfinals were changed before India's last league match against China. "It is inconceivable that this could even be considered, let alone implemented, midway through the tournament," Mitra said in his letter. "Further to this, we would like to point out the fact that the teams in groups D, E and F had two extra days of rest," he said. "If this was not bad enough, you have two countries of the same region (referring to Bahrain and Palestine) knowing the result needed for the other to qualify. All games that could decide a group should have been played at the same time on the same day. It is a very regrettable situation and we are deeply disappointed," he said. In his reply, Murata said the scheduling of matches was a Busan Asian Games Organising Committee prerogative because of the various events involved but it was ensured that all final matches within the group would be played simultaneously. "It is not possible to control the scheduling of matches outside the group which involved the position of the runners-up qualifiers," he said.

Note-2: IFA joint secretary Ranjit Gupta said on Tuesday that the IFA Shield will be held from January 3 to 16 in Calcutta. The dates, however, are likely to clash with the Durand Cup. As per sources, the Durand Cup committee has asked for dates between December 28 and January 10 and that has been accepted by the AIFF. "I don't care what happens to the Durand Cup. Why is it that IFA has to compromise everytime? We will not change the dates. And if the dates clash, I'll make sure Calcutta clubs stay back to play in the Shield," said Gupta. There will be a month's break in the National League between December 26 and January 25 for the SAFF Cup preparatory camp. The Durand Cup committee will, in all probability, have to do some reorganising. Of course they will not like to put together a tournament sans the Calcutta biggies. Sources revealed that the issue will be taken up in the Services Sports Control Board AGM in mid-October. SSCB organises Durand Cup.

Note-3: Ganesh Mahalingam, general manager, marketing, of LG Electronics' Indian arm, announced the company's association with Indian football on Tuesday. LG has signed a five-year contract with Strata, the marketing agent of the AIFF, as the title sponsor of the National championship known as Santosh Trophy. Meanwhile, AIFF's executive committee meeting on Monday evening decided that players recruited by Railways and Services would not have to be released for the state teams for the Santosh Trophy.

Note-4: Uncertainty looms large over the State Indian captain Baichung Bhutia will play for at the 58th Santosh Trophy to be held in Manipur from October 17 with both Bengal and Sikkim vying for the ace striker. "Baichung will certainly play in the Santosh Trophy... But may be not for West Bengal as his first registration was with Sikkim," AIFF Secretary Alberto Colaco told UNI on Tuesday, adding that both the states were trying their best to play him. Colaco said the footballers would be obliged to play for the state with whom they had enrolled first. "The enrollment could have been at any level -- sub-junior, junior or senior...But if the first state does not claim a player, he is free to play for the state he wants," he added.

Note-5: The Asian Football Confederation complimented the AIFF for making the AFC U19 Womens Championship a success: "A number of minor challenges arose before and at the start of the event. It is fair to say that the training and some part of the Nehru stadium facilities were not exactly ideal at the start of the competition. However, thanks to a great deal of hard work, mutual understanding and a highly professional attitude, the local organising committee and the AIFF in close cooperation with the AFC, were able to resolve virtually all these challenges." Furthermore the AFC was very pleased with the AIFF's financial management.

Note-6: The executive committee of Mohun Bagan AC at an emergency meeting today decided to serve a show cause notice to coach Subrata Bhattacharjee, asking him why disciplinary measures should not be taken against him over his alleged criticism of assistant secretary Balaram Chowdhury and treasurer Kesto Saha. After today's meeting, Chowdhury said that Bhattacharjee had committed two offences. Firstly, the latter made the allegation against Chowdhury in a section of the Press saying that Chowdhury along with IFA treasurer Subroto Dutta worked against the interest of the club in the local league. Secondly he used "filthy" language against Saha in a television interview. Chowdhury also said an executive committee of the club had asked the secretary to call an emergency meeting to discuss the subject and take steps over some statement Chuni Goswami made in an article in a newspaper. The club accepted Goswami's resignation from the post of vice-president. When contacted, Subroto Bhattacharjee said that he will reply to the showcause when he actually receives the letter. Bhattacharjee is busy with Mohun Bagan's AFC Champions League second round match against Valencia on Wednesday and preparing the Bengal team for the coming Santosh Trophy.

Note-7: The IFA rejected a request of Churchill Brothers to allow Dipendu Biswas play for them in the AFC Champions League return leg. Though Mohammedan Sporting gave a go-ahead to Biswas in this regard, the date of the match clashes with Bengal's match at the Santosh Trophy.

7. October
Girls U19 National Football Championship, Diphu;Assam - 3rd Place Playoff: Haryana 2-1 Assam

Note-1: India has good potential in women's soccer and if they sustain their good work as was evinced at the first-ever Asian Football Confederation's women's under-19 championship organised by AIFF in Goa from April 19-28, the country will be a force to reckon with in three to five years, according to the technical report released by the AFC in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. "The Indian players were tactically disciplined, understanding their role which was mainly to defend. Sandhya Rani Devi and Geeta Rani Devi were the key players having displayed good first touch. Sandya intercepted through balls from the middle with ease. They were able to demonstrate long range shooting and solo dribbling efforts when given time and space," the report pointed out referring to the strengths of the team. The analysis of the weaknesses were: "Physically not able to compete in terms of strength and speed; defended too deep and with too many bodies during corner kicks (at least four players in the 6-yard box) causing problems for their own goalkeeper and poor transition from attack to defense with the attackers losing interest and not pressurising early."

6. October
Goa Professional League: Salgaocar SC 1-0 Dempo SC
Goa Professional League: St Anthony's Club 0-4 Sporting Club de Goa
Girls U19 National Football Championship, Diphu;Assam - Semifinal: Manipur 2-0 Haryana
24.Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup - Final: Border Security Force 3-0 Arambagh Krira Chakra (Bangladesh)

Note-1: The 7th National Football League will begin on November 15, AIFF president Dasmunshi said. Dasmunshi, who was speaking to newspersons on the sidelines of a function organised by the Mohammedan Sporting Club, however, said that the teams for the inaugural match and the venue was yet to be decided. He dislcosed that the AIFF had plans to introduce a third division in the National League in which 12 clubs would take part. "With 12 teams already taking part in each of the first two divisions, the total number of participants in the three divisions would be 36," he said. Dasmunshi said the AIFF would ensure that the clubs playing in the National League did not suffer on account of releasing players for the Indian team during the coming SAFF Cup.

5. October
Calcutta Super Division: Play-off: EverReady Association 1-0 Food Corporation of India
Calcutta Super Division: Play-off: Bhratri Sangha 1-0 SAIL
Goa Professional League: Vasco SC 1-0 Churchill Brothers SC
Goa Professional League: Fransa FC 1-1 Cabral SC
Girls U19 National Football Championship, Diphu;Assam - Semifinal: Orissa 4-1 Assam
54.Independence Day Cup 2002 - Final: East Bengal 2-0 Oil India Limited

4. October
Note-1: Oriental Bank of Commerce has pledged its increased commitment to promote football in India following new directives from the government of India for recruitment of sportsmen under stipend scheme, according to an official press release. The board of directors of the bank has resolved to extend sustained support to the game of football by imparting training to the existing 14 football players and also to gradually increase the number of players to a group of 26 employees under the guidance of a professional coach. The bank plans to embark on an ambitious project of setting up a Football Academy in due course.

3. October
Asian Games 2002, Yangsan (Korea): India 0-2 China - Goals: 0-1, 0-2 Tao Yu (16', 45')
INDIA: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar; Debjit Ghosh, Mahesh Gawli, Samir Naik, Deepak Mondal; Shanmugam Venkatesh, Krishnan Nair Ajayan, Jo Paul Ancheri; Abhishek Yadav, Bijen Singh, Baichung Bhutia
Subs: Manitombi Singh (55'), Alex Ambrose (61'), Satish Bharti (65')
click here for the Busan Asian Games 2002 Special

Goa Professional League: Salgaocar SC 3-1 Sporting Club de Goa
2.Girls U19 National Championships - Diphu; Assam - Group F: Orissa 4-3 Bihar
2.Girls U19 National Championships - Diphu; Assam - Group F: Manipur 1-0 Bengal

Note-1: The Asian Football Confederation today chose India skipper and Mohun Bagan striker Baichung Bhutia as the "AFC Player of the Month" for September 2002. According to a press release issued by the AIFF's Goa office, AFC general secretary Peter Vellappan informed of Bhutia's selection for the AFC player of the month award. Bhutia's incredible nine goals in five matches during last month's international engagements made him eligible for the prestigious award. The Indian star skipper gets this award for the second time. Earlier Baichung had received the AFC Player of the Month in May 1999.

Note-2: Former football India captains PK Banerjee and Chuni Goswami on Wednesday hailed Baichung Bhutia as the greatest Indian footballer and said India had a good chance of reaching the semifinals of the 14th Asian Games in Busan. "Baichung is undoubtedly the best Indian striker ever and probably the greatest footballer the country has produced so far. Though he has a long way to go. But, like Sachin Tendulkar, one can see the genius in him," Chuni Goswami told UNI after running in the "Run in pursuit for learning on" in which more than 500 Delhi school children participated near India Gate in New Delhi. Banerjee, the skipper of the Indian team that reached the semifinal of the Melbourne Olympics in 1956, said under the captainship of Baichung, India was fast developing as a super power in Asian football. "Indian football has entered a new phase...The attitude of the players have changed, they have become more aggressive and are playing a very balanced game...The team is on a roll," he added. Banerjee said the change had come since India's 1-0 win against the United Arab Emirates in the World Cup Qualifiers match in Bangalore in April 2001. "The coaching camps have been the single most influential factor in the change of attitude of the players," he added. Asked what made Baichung "the best player" of the country, Banerjee pointed out that he was the quickest mover, a sharp shooter and has tremendous knack for scoring. "You can call him India's Ronaldo... The speed, the stamina, physical strength is quite remarkable," he noted.

Note-3: With the state government deciding to reward Arjuna awardee Bruno Coutinho with a sum of Rs 5 lakh, fellow awardee Brahmanand Shankwalkar, who had received Rs 1 lakh from the government in February 2001, has also demanded for greater monetary compensation. "The basis for my demand to compensate the balance amount of Rs 4 lakh is to drive home the point that both the Arjuna awardees should be treated equally when it comes to recognising the contributions and achievements of both of us for football," quoted Brahmanand citing reasons behind his demand. "I have put forward the proposal of reimbursement of Rs 4 lakh to the Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar through SAG's executive director, VM Prabhudessai," disclosed Shankwalkar.

2. October
Goa Professional League: Churchill Brothers SC 0-2 Fransa FC
Goa Professional League: Vasco SC 3-1 Cabral SC
Goa Professional League: St Anthony's Club 2-5 Dempo SC
2.Girls U19 National Championships - Diphu; Assam - Group E: Assam 1-0 Haryana
2.Girls U19 National Championships - Diphu; Assam - Group E: Goa 1-2 Mizoram

1. October
2.Girls U19 National Championships - Diphu; Assam - Group F: Manipur 1-0 Orissa
2.Girls U19 National Championships - Diphu; Assam - Group F: Bengal 2-0 Bihar

Note-1: Mohun Bagan has appealed to the GOC Eastern Command to allow them to practice at the home ground for their AFC Champions League match against Valencia, Maldives on October 9. The Maidan remains under the purview of the army from October 1 to 15. The Bagan authorities have also asked for a subsidy of Rs 2 lakhs from the IFA for the Champions League match.

Note-2: IFA has deferred their decision on penalising Bhratri Sangha for playing a fixed match against SAIL on Friday. There was nothing in the referee's report based on which action could be taken, but the IFA asked Bhratri Sangha for an explanation. Meanwhile, the U16 and U19 Bengal probables were chosen today.