31. December
7th National League - Chennai: Indian Bank 1-0 Tollygunge Agragami - Goal: 1-0 Syed Shabir Pasha (17').
Indian Bank keeped it's good home record in the National League intact with a 1-0 victory against Tollygunge Agragami at The Nehru Stadium, Chennai. Seasoned striker Syed Shabir Pasha scored the winner in the 17.minute off a cross from VK Harish from the right. Tollygunge had their chances but Bank-keeper Sebastian Netto had a good day in goal, defuising the chances that came Tollygunge's way.

Note-1: The first matches of the Quarterfinal-League of the 115th Durand Cup were washed out today, due to heavy rains in Delhi. The Durand Cup committee informed that the opening fixtures between Indian Telephone Industries vs Army XI and JCT vs Tata Football Academy will take place Wednesday. The schedule of the Quarterfinal-League has been deferred by a day.

Note-2: The groupings for the IFA-Shield were released today. The tough Group A consists of East Bengal, Tollygunge Agragami, Churchill Brothers and Indian Bank, while in Group B Mohammedan Sporting, Calcutta Port Trust, Vasco SC and JCT Mills have been clubbed together. Mohun Bagan did not change their stand and are not taking part in the Shield.

30. December
The AIFF held its Annual General Meeting in Delhi today. After the AGM, AIFF president Das Munshi announced the results.
The AIFF announced an ambitious Project 2010 which aims at the Indian team qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. "A special delegation of the AIFF will visit Japan, Korea, China and Iran and report on the way these countries had prepared for the previous World Cups," AIFF president Dasmunshi said. The AIFF will also hold discussions with an AFC team comprising its technical, media and executive directors which is expected to visit India in February 2003. "The present under-17 team will be the nucleus of the project," AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco said.
Further Deepak Mondal has been named "Indian Football of the Year 2002", while the AIFF has recommended IM Vijayan's name for the Arjuna Award.
Also the Transfers might be dated later, June 1 to 15, depending on scheduling of India's Asia Cup and Olampic qualifiers.
The format for this seasons 2.Division National League was discussed and approved at the AGM. The 2.Division will be held in two Phases - zonal and final with 43 teams in total vying for the two promotion spots into the National League. From the zonal Phase, two teams from each of the five zones will join two teams demoted last year - FC Kochin and Punjab Police - in the final Phase. These 12 teams will be divided into groups of six each.
From next season on the 2.Division will be restricted to only 12 teams, as had been announced and planned earlier for this year but which has not been implemented.
State representation Zonal league: East Zone (6): Sikkim (1), Bengal (2), Bihar (2), Orissa (1); North-East Zone (10): Manipur (2), Arunachal Pradesh (1), Assam (2), Meghalaya (2), Mizoram (1), Nagaland (1), Tripura (1); West Zone (8): Rajasthan (1), Madhya Pradesh (1), Maharashtra (2), Gujarat (1), Goa (2), Daman&Diu (1); South Zone (8): Tamil Nadu (2), Kerala (2), Pondicherry (1), Andhra Pradesh (1), Karnataka (2); North Zone (9): Chandigarh (1), Delhi (2), Haryana (1), Himachal Pradesh (1), J&K (1), Punjab (2), Uttar Pradesh (1).
Final Phase: Group A: FC Kochin, North-East winner, East runner-up, North winner, West runner-up, South winner; Group B: Punjab Police, North-East runner-up, East winner, North runner-up, West winner, South runner-up.

Note-1: India and East Bengal Club defender Deepak Kumar Mondal has been chosen as "Indian Football of the Year 2002", a surprise as many had expected Baichung Bhutia to receive the award. The 23 year-old international from Jamshedpur started his career at the Tata Football Academy, went to JCT Mills thereafter and then joined East Bengal three seasons ago. Deepak will be honoured with Rs. 25,000 in mid-February when AFC president Bin Hamman visits India.
"The AIFF chose Mondal ahead of the more popular footballer Baichung Bhutia based on the recommendation made by India's national coach Stephen Constantine," AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco said.
Congratulations from indianfootball.com to Deepak for being named for the Award!!!

Note-2: The SAIL football team, which got relegated this season from the Calcutta Super Division, will enter the Calcutta First Division Group A next year with a very young side. About a dozen boys from the Subroto Cup under-17 winners, Bokaro Secondary School, where the Bokaro SAIL Football Academy boys study, will play for SAIL in the coming season. A good chance for the boys, mostly 16 and 17 years old, to get a taste of tough competitive club football, before joining the big league a year or two later.

29. December
18.Airlines Gold Cup - Final: Mohun Bagan AC 3-1 Tollygunge Agragami - Goals: 1-0 Basudeb Mondal (58'), 2-0 Jose Barreto (63'), 2-1 Ashim Biswas (79'), 3-1 George Ekeh (90').
Satyabrata Paul reports for indianfootball.com: The season's first trophy for Mohun Bagan came in terms of the All Airlines Gold Cup 2002, as they beat Calcutta rivals Tollygunge Agragami by a 3-1 margin at Barasat Stadium. After a long gap of 50 days the final was held as both the team were busy with the National League. This win was significant for Mohun Bagan as they were defeated by the same team just three days earlier in the NFL by a solitary goal scored by Ashim Biswas. For Tollygunge Ashim scored again today, but that was not enough to counter the three scored by Basudeb Mondal, Jose Barreto and George Ekeh for Bagan. The first half produced no result as both the team confined their game in and around the midfield. In the second half the breakthrough came for Bagan through Basudeb Mondal in the 58.minute, with Barreto extended the lead five minutes later. Ashim Biswas (79.) could only reduce the margin but in injury time George Ekeh made it 3-1 to seal the match for Bagan.

Delhi Senior Division - Group B: Indian Nationals FC 1-1 City Club
115.Durand Cup - Round 2 Qualifiers: Indian Navy 0-3 Assam Regimental Centre, Shillong
25.Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy - Final: Bengal 2-0 Manipur

Note-1: The draw of groups for the Quarterfinal league of the Durand Cup were done today, with Mohun Bagan missing besides Mahindra United. Bagan were replaced by Mumbai's Air-India, while Punjab State Electricity Board replaced defending champions Mahindra United. As Bagan could not confirm it's participation due to it's struggle with it's home state association IFA, so the Durand Cup committee revoked it's invitation.
Groupings: Group A: JCT Mills, Tata Football Academy, Mohammedan Sporting; Group B: East Bengal, MEG, Bangalore, Air-India; Group C: Indian Telephone Industries, Army XI, Vasco; Group D: Salgaocar, Assam Regimental Centre, Punjab State Electricity Board.

28. December
AFC U14 Football Festival 2002 - Kathmandu; Nepal: Nepal 3-0 India - Nepal win tournament!
AFC U14 Football Festival 2002 - other scores: Sri Lanka 0-6 Maldives, Bangladesh 13-0 Bhutan

Delhi Senior Division - Group A: New Delhi Heroes 1-1 Delhi Police
Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Buddhist Blue Star 0-0 Simla Youngs
115.Durand Cup - Round 2 Qualifiers: MEG, Bangalore 0-0,4-2 City Club [after penalties]

Note-1: This years Durand Cup seems to stand under no good light. While Mohun Bagan's participation is still unclear, defending champions Mahindra United have pulled out citing "unavoidable reasons". Mahindra United, who have not had a good start into the National League, will be without five players called-up by the national team, while further players are injured, which might be the reason behind the late pullout. Mahindras are likely to be replaced by Mumbai rivals Air-India.
The decision if Mohun Bagan will take part or not will be taken tomorrow, the deadline given by the Durand Cup committee. As it stands now, Bagan and the IFA will not change their stand, so Bagan are likely to play in none of the tournaments, Durand Cup and IFA-Shield.

27. December
National Coach Stephen Constantine has selected 26 probables for the preparatory training camp for the SAFF Cup 2003, which will be held in Calcutta from January 2, 2003. The final 20 will be chosen after the camp, with the SAFF Cup starting on January 10, 2003 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. There were some interesting inclusions, like oldies IM Vijayan, Roberto Fernandes and Virender Singh, while some U20 youngsters were also chosen in Subhas Chakraborty and Ashim Biswas but generally most of the Asian Games squad has been retained. IM Vijayan makes a comeback in the national squad as his former genial partner Baichung Bhutia is out injured, with Vijayan giving the frontline the much needed experience factor. Also bringing experience back in the squad are keeper Virender Singh, the only non-National League player, and defender Roberto Fernandes, who has been having a good NFL campaign.That one or the other youngster from the U20 squad would be chosen was clear but that Subhas Chakraborty would be the one besides Ashim Biswas is a surprise. Some might have expected other former TFA boys to be in the probables list, like talented Malswam Tulunga or maybe Syed Rahim Nabi but in Nabi's case him playing for non-National League side Mohammedan Sporting might have been a obstruction as Constantine couldn't have a look at him.
PROBABLES: Goalkeeper: Naseem Akhtar (Mahindra United), Rajat Ghosh Dastidar (Mohun Bagan), Sandip Nandy (East Bengal), Virender Singh (Punjab Police); Defender: Roberto Fernandes (Salgaocar), Selwyn Fernandes (Vasco), Mahesh Gawli (Churchill Brothers), Debjit Ghosh (Mahindra United), Deepak Mondal (East Bengal), Samir Naik (Dempo), M Suresh (East Bengal); Midfielder: Jules Alberto (Vasco), Jo Paul Ancheri (JCT), Subhash Chakraborty (East Bengal), Abhay Kumar (Vasco), Climax Lawrence (Salgaocar), Peter Siddique (Mahindra United), Renedy Singh (Mohun Bagan), Tomba Singh (Salgaocar), Shanmugam Venkatesh (East Bengal); Striker: Ashim Biswas (Tollygunge Agragami), Alvito D'Cunha (East Bengal), RC Prakash (Mahindra United), Harvinder Singh Jr (JCT), IM Vijayan (JCT), Abhishek Yadav (Mahindra United); Coach: Stephen Constantine; Assistant Coach: Aloke Mukherjee; Technical Director: Sukhwinder Singh.

7th National League - Goa: Dempo SC 1-0 JCT Mills - Goal: 1-0 Sameer Naik (55').
Dempo won 1-0 against JCT Mills in a National League match at the Nehru Stadium, Margao to move to the top of the league after Round 8 and will head the NFL as it goes into a one month break. A major surprise, when one thinks that Dempo were in the 2.Division last season and now lead the Premier Division. The decider came in the 55.minute, when Dempo winger Sameer Naik shot a high long-ranger from the right, which caught JCTs Ghanian goalkeeper Mansuru Mohammed off guard and the ball dipped into the net over the keeper, who tried to tip the ball over the bar without success.

Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Delhi Police 0-1 Frontiers Club
Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Moonlight Club 1-0 Goans SC
115.Durand Cup - Round 1 Qualifiers: New Delhi Heroes 0-1 Indian Navy
115.Durand Cup - Round 1 Qualifiers: Hindustan Club 0-2 Assam Regimental Centre, Shillong
25.Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy - Semifinal: Bengal 1-0 Bihar
25.Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy - Semifinal: Mizoram 1-2 Manipur

26. December
7th National League - Calcutta: Mohun Bagan AC 0-1 Tollygunge Agragami - Goal: 0-1 Ashim Biswas (84').
Tollygunge Agragami scored a shock 1-0 victory against defending National League champions Mohun Bagan at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. It was a typical match between Tollygunge against the Calcutta Big Two, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal. Tolly played to their plan, packing their defence and defensive midfield, not allowing Bagan to play their offensive game. Bagan controlled most of the match and had the best chance in the 19.minute when a Lorendra Singh shot hit the crossbar but Bagan lost their Nigerian defender Isa Musah Eroje in the 79.minute through a delibarate handball, his second booking of the match. And to make matter worse, in the 84.minute talented Tolly youngster Ashim Biswas scored the only goal of the match, when he headed in a shot from Moses Owira.
MOHUN BAGAN: Bibash Ghosh, Dulal Biswas, Kajal Bhattacharya, Isa Musah Eroje, Lolendra Singh, Basudeb Mondal, Jayanta Sen (Gaurab Dutta), Renedy Singh, Palash Karmakar (Sunil Chetri), George Ekeh, Jose Barreto.
TOLLYGUNGE: Arindam Ghosh, Kabijit Khotel (Sujoy Dutta), Sujit Neogi, Debkumar Sashmal, Amitava Chanda, Srikanta Dutta, Isiaka Awoyemi (Dipayan Majumdar), Sandip Das, Ashim Biswas, Moses Owira, Akeem Abul Alem.

AFC U14 Football Festival 2002 - Kathmandu; Nepal: India 6-0 Bhutan
AFC U14 Football Festival 2002 - other scores: Nepal 9-0 Sri Lanka, Maldives 0-6 Bangladesh

Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Hindustan Club 1-0 Mughals Club
Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Tarun Sangha 1-0 Simla Youngs
115.Durand Cup - Round 1 Qualifiers: Indian National FC 0-1 MEG, Bangalore - Goal: 0-1 Durai Raj (80')
115.Durand Cup - Round 1 Qualifiers: Indian Air Force, Delhi 0-1 City Club - Goal: 0-1 Bijendra Kumar (50')

25. December

Delhi Senior Division - Group A: New Delhi Heroes 1-0 Buddhist Blue Star
Delhi Senior Division - Group B: Indian Air Force, Delhi 1-1 City Club
25.Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group B: Tamil Nadu 1-3 Mizoram
25.Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group B: Delhi 1-4 Bihar

Note-1: The Durand Cup starts tomorrow but if National League champions Mohun Bagan will take part or not is not clear. Bagan are reluctant to take part in the following IFA-Shield, which starts on January 8 and the IFA will not allow Bagan to take part in the Durand Cup, if it pulls out of the Shield. If Bagan has to pull out of the Durand Cup they will be replaced by Churchill Brothers.

24. December
7th National League - Goa: Churchill Brothers SC 1-0 Hindustan Aeronautics Limited - Goal: 1-0 Yakubu Yusif (15').
Churchill Brothers kept their winning momentum in tact with a 1-0 victory against Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in a National League match at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. Ghanian striker Yakubu Yusif scored in the 15.minute off a pass from Kasif Jamal. HAL took time to settle down but from the later stages of the first half, they took control but missed numerous chances to equalise.

AFC U14 Football Festival 2002 - Kathmandu; Nepal: India 8-0 Sri Lanka - Goals: 1-0,4-0-5-0 Sukumar Roy (8',33',60'), 2-0,3-0 Hiralal Chettri (15',20'), 6-0 Biju Mondal, 7-0 Shreekant Ghosh, 8-0 ?.
AFC U14 Football Festival 2002 - other scores: Maldives 1-1 Bhutan, Nepal 2-2 Bangladesh

Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Hindustan Club walkover Frontiers Club
Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Mughals Club 0-0 Tarun Sangha
25.Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group A: Bengal 5-2 Goa
25.Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group A: Manipur 0-0 Kerala

Note-1: India and the AIFF are lucky to get away with an AFC ban of smaller magnitude than feared earlier...
In an apparent dilution of its ban on India hosting international events slapped a fortnight ago, the Asian Football C onfederation today said the ban was applicable only for tournaments organised by the AIFFs affiliated units like IFA. The clarification has left the AIFF, which had vehemently protested the ban decision, unaffected and the game's governing body in the country was now free to stage international tournaments. Responding to a letter from AIFF seeking more clarifications regarding the suspension, the AFC sought to clear the ambiguity by stating that "the ban does not apply to age group tournaments as well as tournaments of AFC and FIFA and organised by AIFF". "The ban only applies to international tournaments organised by affiliate units of AIFF," the AFC's general secretary Peter Velappan said in the letter. The AFC had slapped a one-year ban on India hosting any international tournaments on December 11 after it failed to provide a report on the violence-marred IFA-Shield final between East Bengal and Brazilians Palmeiras in Calcutta. The decision was taken by the AFCs Executive Committee which was "seriously upset" that Indian officials had not sent the report on the fracas in Calcutta.
Worst hit by the decision will be the IFA, who for the IFA-Shield in January wanted to bring in two foreign team, which is now impossible.

Note-2: The 115th edition of the Durand Cup, India's oldest football tournament, will be kicked-off on December 26 with the final scheduled for January 10, 2003. This year Rs. 800.000 has been set as prize money, with no title sponsor but sponsorship from Pepsi, ONGC, Allwyn, Titan and Cosco. Among the participants will be seven National League sides.

23. December
7th National League - Mumbai: Mahindra United 0-1 Salgaocar SC - Goal: 0-1 Sunday Seah (76').
Mahindra United lost 0-1 against Salgaocar SC in a National League match at the Cooperage Ground, Mumbai. Liberian Sunday Seah scored the winner for the Goans in the 76.minute of a pass from Jose Esteves. Salgaocar's Nigerian MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi was given marching orders seven minutes from time, for his second bookable infringement.

7th National League - Chennai: Indian Bank 3-3 East Bengal Club - Goals: 1-0,2-0,3-1 Kasun Nadika Jayasuriya (21',22',53'), 2-1 Gilmar (51'), 3-2 Chandan Das (58'), 3-3 Shanmugam Venkatesh (59').
In a thrilling encounter at the Nehru Stadium, Chennai; Indian Bank drew 3-3 against National League leaders East Bengal Club. East Bengal had been down 0-2 and 1-3 in the match but came back strongly to draw, even having the chance to win. Indian Bank's Sri Lanka striker Kasun Nadika Jayasuriya (21.,22.) opened the scoring with the double strike. East Bengal's Brazilian Gilmar reduced the score in the 51.minute but East Bengal's joy was short-lived as Jayasuriya scored his third of the day two minutes later. But East Bengal's strike force got into its own rhythm and scored in quick succession through midfielders Chandan Das (58.) and Shanmugam Venkatesh (59.).

7th National League - Bangalore: Indian Telephone Industries 1-2 Vasco SC - Goals: 0-1 Jules Alberto (34'), 0-2 Akshay Das (66' - own Goal), 1-2 Mohammed Najeeb (80').
Indian Telephone Industries lost 1-2 against Vasco SC in a National League match at the Bangalore Football Stadium. ITI started the match, as if they wanted to win their first NFL match of the season but Vasco went ahead in the 34.minute of a header from Jules Alberto. ITIs Akshay Das shot the ball into his teams own net in the 66.minute to double Vasco's lead, just minutes after Vasco's Satish Minz received marching orders from the referee Syed Yeasin. But ITI were only able to reduce the margin in the 80.minute, when Mohammed Najeeb headed in a cross from Raghuveer Singh. Four minutes from time, Vasco even lost their Brazilian goalie Rogerio Ramos for a tackle on ITIs Seth Osei outside the box, on a read card and ITI pushed hard for the equaliser with Vasco down to nine men but Vasco survived and won the match.

Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Delhi Police 1-0 Simla Youngs
Delhi Senior Division - Group B: Moonlight Club walkover Garhwal Heroes
25.Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group B: Mizoram 3-1 Bihar
25.Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group B: Delhi 2-0 Tamil Nadu

Note-1: Mahindra United, who made some big signings before the start of the National League and also hired a foreign coach in former Czech World Cupper Karel Stromsik, lost again today and are reacting to the worsening situation. According to indianfootball.com sources, Mahindra's are signing former goalkeeper Virender Singh on-loan from Punjab Police and are also signing a top class Brazilian for Indian standards in Nei Junior from Botafogo Sao Paolo.

22. December
AFC U14 Football Festival 2002 - Kathmandu; Nepal: India 5-0 Maldives
AFC U14 Football Festival 2002 - other scores: Bangladesh 8-0 Sri Lanka, Nepal 4-0 Bhutan

Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Hindustan Club 0-0 Delhi Police
Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Mughals Club 2-0 Frontiers Club
25.Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group A: Bengal 7-0 Kerala
25.Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group A: Manipur 3-1 Goa

21. December
7th National League - Ludhiana: JCT Mills 2-0 Tollygunge Agragami - Goals: 1-0 Hardip Singh Gill (23'), 2-0 Harvinder Singh (88').
JCT Mills won 2-0 against Tollygunge Agragami in a National League match at the Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana. JCT went ahead in the 23.minute through a powerful shot from Hardip Singh Gill and Harvinder Singh doubled the lead two minutes from tzime to seal the match for JCT. In between both sides had their chances with Tollygunge having an excellent obstancle in JCTs new Ghanian goalkeeper Mansuru Mohammed, who played his first NFL match.

Delhi Senior Division - Group B: Indian Nationals FC 2-0 Indian Air Force, Delhi
Delhi Senior Division - Group B: City Club 0-0 Shahdara Club
25.Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group A: Mizoram 2-1 Delhi
25.Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group A: Bihar 2-0 Tamil Nadu

32.National Games - Hyderabad - Men's Final: West Bengal 1-1,0-1 Punjab [golden Goal] - Goals: 1-0 Syed Rahim Nabi (72'), 1-1 Saranjit Singh (90'), 1-2 Gurjinder Pal Singh (118').
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Men's 3rd Place Playoff: Tamil Nadu 1-1,5-4 Services [after penalties]

32.National Games - Hyderabad - Women's Final: Manipur 1-0 West Bengal - Goal: 1-0 Shanti Devi (10').
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Women's 3rd Place Playoff: Andhra Pradesh 0-4 Orissa - Goals: 0-1 Sunita Soreng (17'), 0-2 Pinky Bompal Magar (65'), 0-3,0-4 Sraddhanjali Samantarai (75',78').

Note-1: India's injury worries ahead of the SAFF Cup increased with Manitombi Singh's injury forcing him out for two month's. Bad news for India coach Stephen Constantine, as captain Baichung Bhutia was already not available after he aggrevated his calf muscle injury, with his left leg now in a cast.

Note-2: In Calcutta it is known that Mohun Bagan and the IFA haven't had the best of relationships in the last few month's and now a new problem has arisen. Bagan want to pull out of the IFA-Shield and play in the Durand Cup but IFA officials made it clear that Bagan would not be allowed to take part in the Durand Cup, if they do not take part in the IFA-Shield. The IFA meanwhile have asked the AIFF, if they can bring in foreign clubs for the Shield but the problem of the AFC ban could be an obstacle.

20. December
7th National League - Goa: Dempo SC 3-0 Hindustan Aeronautics Limited - Goals: 1-0 Francis Silveira (15'), 2-0 Sergey Andreev (18'), 3-0 Majekodunmi Bolaji (22').
Dempo scored a 3-0 victory against Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in a National League match at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. Three goalkeeping blunders by keeper Subhash Kumar enabled Dempo to score three goals in quick succession in the first half. In-form striker Francis Silveira opened the scoring in the 15.minute of a cross from Wilton Gomes, which Uzbek Sergey Andreev doubled, when he nooded in through the hands of Subhash and then Nigerian defender Majekodunmi Bolaji shot into the goal in the 22.minute. HAL coach Chandrashekar had to react and he did, replacing second keeper Subhash with HALs injured No.1 keeper Mark Mascarenhas but after that substitution Dempo didn't score any more goals, with Mascarenhas even saving a penalty from Bijen Singh.

7th National League - Mumbai: Mahindra United 0-1 Churchill Brothers SC - Goal: 0-1 Yakubu Yusif (25').
Churchill Brothers won 1-0 in a National League away match against mahindra United at the Cooperage Ground, Mumbai. Ghanian striker Yakubu Yusif scored the winner in the 25.minute of two Indian top sides, who have so far performed below expectitions this season.

7th National League - Bangalore: Indian Telephone Industries 0-1 Mohun Bagan AC - Goal: 0-1 Jose Barreto (43').
Indian Telephone Industries lost 0-1 against defending National League champions Mohun Bagan at the Bangalore Football Stadium, to remain the only team to remain winless. Brazilian utilityman Jose Barreto scored the winner the 42.minute to win the match for Bagan, who missed Baichung Bhutia, out for around six weeks with a torn calf muscle. In a mediocre encounter, Bagan had more of the chances but otherwise they weren't better than ITI.
ITI: Gumpe Rime, CK Jiteesh (Niyaz Rahaman), AS Firoze, T Roopesh, Akshay Das, J Muralidharan (Mohammed Najeeb), Seth Osei, KV Dhanesh (Louis Nickson), Raghuveer Singh, Ali Hasan Mohammed, Ibrahim Karim Hassan.
MOHUN BAGAN: Bibhas Ghosh, Dulal Biswas, Isa Musah Eroje, Kajol Bhattacharya, Lolendro Singh, Jayanta Sen, Basudeb Mondal, Renedy Singh, Jose Barreto, George Ekeh, Sunil Chetri (Amar Ganguly, Ajoy Singh).

AFC U14 Football Festival 2002 - Kathmandu; Nepal: India 2-1 Bangladesh - Goals: 1-0 Pintu Sarkar (4'), 1-1 Mithun Chowdhury (44'), 2-1 MZ Islam Palash (79' - own Goal).
AFC U14 Football Festival 2002 - other scores: Nepal 6-1 Maldives, Bhutan 4-1 Sri Lanka

Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Tarun Sangha 2-0 Buddhist Blue Star
Delhi Senior Division - Group A: New Delhi Heroes 1-0 Simla Youngs
25.Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group A: Goa 3-0 Kerala
25.Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy - Quarterfinal-League - Group A: Bengal draw Manipur

19. December
7th National League - Goa: Vasco SC 1-1 East Bengal Club - Goals: 0-1 Alvito D'Cunha (33'), 1-1 Marcos Pereira.
In front of a good holiday crowd at the Nehru Stadium, Margao on Goan Liberation Day Vasco were able to hold National League leaders East Bengal to a 1-1 draw. Goan boy Alvito D'Cunha, playing his first match in Goa for East Bengal, shot his side into the lead in the 33.minute, after a one-two with Nigerian Mike Okoro and getting past Vasco keeper Rogerio Ramos. Vasco restored parity in the 72.minute when substitute Santa Singh played a through ball to in-form Brazilian striker Marcos Pereira, who made no mistake.
VASCO: Rogerio Ramos, Seby Dias, Sanjay Parte, Selwyn Fernandes, Satish Minz, Menino Fernandes, Riston Rodrigues (Sushanth Mathew), Abhay Kumar (Nitin Pradhan), Jules Alberto (Santa Singh), Marcos Pereira, Rui Wanderley Weis.
EAST BENGAL: Sandip Nandy, Surya Bikash Chakraborty, Arun Malhotra, M Suresh, Douglas Da Silva, Sasthi Duley, Shanmugam Venkatesh, Chandan Das, Alvito D'Cunha (Subhas Chakraborty), Gilmar (Kalia Kulothungan), Mike Okoro.

7th National League - Chennai: Indian Bank 2-4 Salgaocar SC - Goals: 0-1 Dharamjit Singh (3'), 1-1 Syed Shabir Pasha (12'), 1-2,1-3,1-4 MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi (20',25',84'), 2-4 Imran Mohamed (90').
Salgaocar rode on a hattrick of Nigerian striker MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi to win 4-2 away against Indian Bank in a National League match at the Nehru Stadium, Chennai. Dharamjit Singh opened the scoring in the 3.minute for Salgaocar with Syed Shabir Pasha equalising for Indian Bank in the 12.minute but then MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi's double strike put Salgaocar 3-1 ahead and then Bankmen coach VP Sathyan to replace goalie Sebastian Netto with Felix Edward but MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi completed his hattrick in the 84.minute for Salgaocar's fourth goal. Imran Mohamed was only able to reduce the margin in the last minute of the match

Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Shahdara Club 3-0 Garhwal Heroes
Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Indian Air Force, Delhi 1-1 Goans SC
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Men's Semifinals: Tamil Nadu 0-1 West Bengal - Goal: 0-1 Supratik Ain (74').
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Men's Semifinals: Services 0-4 Punjab - Goals: 0-1,0-4 Gurvinder Pal Singh (36',79'), 0-2,0-3 Surjit Singh (39'41').
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Women's Semifinals: Manipur 4-0 Andhra Pradesh - Goals: 1-0,2-0 N Geeta Rani (6',37'), 3-0 Shanta Devi (48'), 4-0 Tababi Devi (62').
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Women's Semifinals: Orissa 1-3 West Bengal - Goals: 1-0 Pinky Bompal Magar, 1-1,2-1 Rinku Ghosh, 3-1 Shanta Dhara.

Note-1: The deferred final of the 18th Airlines Gold Cup between Mohun Bagan and Tollygunge Agragami will be held on December 29, 2002 at the Barasat Stadium, a suburb of Calcutta. The final had to be deferred in November due to clashing of dates with Mohun Bagan's away match in the AFC Champions League.

18. December
Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Delhi Police 0-0 Mughals Club
Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Frontiers Club 0-2 Tarun Sangha

Junior Subroto Mukherjee Cup - Final: Bokaro Secondary School, Sector IV-E, JHARKHAND 1-0 Apex Public School, Sant Nagar, DELHI - Goal: 1-0 HL Malsoma (23').

17. December
My worst fears seem to have come true. Baichung Bhutia's calf muscle injury got worse yesterday and he had to be admitted to HOSMAT in Bangalore after the match against HAL, where he is under treatment at present. "Doctors have advised me complete rest for the next one month. So it seems like I will have to miss the SAFF championships," Bhutia told Deccan Herald in Bangalore. "I was not sprinting in earlier matches, including the one against East Bengal. Yesterday I tried to sprint a bit and that did the damage," said Bhutia. "The leg is in pain and I have difficulty walking," he added. The 26-year-old is expected to be discharged tomorrow. Lets see what the doctors say, when Baichung gets back to Calcutta.

7th National League - Goa: Dempo SC 4-1 Tollygunge Agragami - Goals: 1-0 Majekodunmi Bolaji (20'), 2-0 Wilton Gomes (24'), 2-1 Akeem Abul Alem (49'), 3-1,4-1 Francis Silveira (90',90+').
Dempo trashed Tollygunge Agragami 4-1 in a National League match at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. Midway through the first half Dempo made a double strike through Majekodunmi Bolaji (20.) and Wilton Gomes (24.) to take a 2-0 lead, after they were lucky that Ashim Biswas missed a chance as early as the 3.minute. Tollygunge again had a better start, this time into the second half and reduced the margin through Nigerian striker Akeem Abul Alem in the 49.minute beating the offside trap. But Dempo decided the match through two goals from seasoned Francis "Pocket" Silveira late in the match, one at the end of regulation time and the other goal in injury time, to give Dempo the biggest victory of this National League.

Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Hindustan Club 2-0 New Delhi Heroes
Delhi Senior Division - Group B: Indian Nationals FC 1-0 Moonlight Club
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Men's Group A: West Bengal 3-2 Maharashtra
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Men's Group A: Services 1-0 Goa
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Women's Group B: Andhra Pradesh 0-3 Bihar
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Women's Group B: Orissa 6-0 Kerala

Subjunior Subroto Mukherjee Cup - Final: Holy Heart High School, MIZORAM 2-1 Namchi Sports School, SIKKIM - Goals: 1-0 Vanlal Ruata (15'), 2-0 Joseph Lalrinmawia (41'), 2-1 Sangdup Lepcha (90').

Note-1: The affiliation of the state units of the three new Indian states, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal, will come for discussion at the upcoming Annual General Body meeting of the AIFF being held in the capital on December 29/30 but it should only be a formality.
A more important issue, which will be discussed is the preparation of the under-23 team for the 2004 Athen Olympics and the national team for the World Cup 2006. The allocation of various national tournaments conducted by the AIFF will be done at the meeting.
The AIFF has made plans to coach the teams under national coach Stephen Constantine for the Olympic qualifiers and the World Cup where India will have to qualify from the Asian level. How they go about the job and what is the blueprint will be unveiled at the AGM at the end of the month.
The various tournaments conducted by the AIFF include the new zonal rounds for the under-21, under-19 and under-16 champions as also the final rounds for these Junior Nationals, the National Championships for Women and the Santosh Trophy.
The agenda circulated for the AIFF AGM also talks of drawing up an integrated calendar for the AIFF. This is of utmost importance since it seems that the teams and the federation are working at cross-purposes.

16. December
7th National League - Goa: Churchill Brothers SC 2-0 Indian Telephone Industries - Goals: 1-0 Yakubu Yusif (80'), 2-0 Roque Barreto (85').
Churchill Brothers scored their first victory of this National League, with a 2-0 victory at the Nehru Stadium, Margao against Indian Telephone Industries, who with this loss remain the only winless team and are bottom of the table. After a listless first half, Churchill Brothers score twice late in the match. Ghanian striker Yakubu Yusif headed in a Roque Barreto cross in the 80.minute and Yakubu returned the favour, when he passed to medio Roque Barreto, who unleashed a left-footer in the 85.minute to seal the match.

7th National League - Bangalore: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited 1-3 Mohun Bagan AC - Goals: 1-0 Kenneth Onu (9'), 1-1,1-2,1-3 George Ekeh (11',38',82').
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited made a promising start against defending champions Mohun Bagan, taking an early lead in their National League match at the Bangalore Football Stadium but lost 1-3 in the end. The goals were scored by the Nigerians Kenneth Onu for HAL and George Ekeh for Bagan, both teammates last season at the other Bangalore NFL-side ITI. HAL made a positive start, wanting to beat Bagan again like last season, taking the lead in the 9.minute through striker Kenneth Onu. But the joy was shortlived for HAL, as the George Ekeh show started just four minutes later with the equaliser, a solo effort by Ekeh. In the 38.minute Ekeh shot Bagan into the lead but only four minutes later a more far-reaching incident took place, as India captain Baichung Bhutia was taken off, not for his calf muscle injury, but for something else unknown so far, which might keep him out for a while. A serious blow, if Baichung was to miss the SAFF Cup. But Bagan kept control of the match and Ekeh completed his second hattrick of this National League, when he shot home of a pass from substitute Sunil Chetri to seal the match.

Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Frontiers Club 0-2 Buddhist Blue Star
Delhi Senior Division - Group B: Shahdara Club 1-2 Goans SC
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Men's Group B: Andhra Pradesh 0-1 Punjab
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Men's Group B: Tamil Nadu 1-1 Kerala
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Women's Group A: Manipur 11-0 Assam

15. December
7th National League - Calcutta: East Bengal Club 2-1 Salgaocar SC - Goals: 1-0 Gilmar (21'), 1-1 MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi (68'), 2-1 Mike Okoro (90+').
East Bengal conceeded their first goal of this National League but won their fifth match of the six they have played so far, defeating Salgaocar of Goa in the process 2-1 at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. East Bengal have been criticised this season for playing unattractive but successful football, like some big teams in Europe but with not only 11 but 20 excellent footballers at their disposal, good football was to come sometime for sure and that was today against an opponent, who themselves have one of the most creative midfielders in India at the moment, the Singh brothers, Tomba and Bungo. East Bengal took the lead in the 21.minute through a strike from their new Brazilian Gilmar, who has added even more football skills to the side, when his left-footer went past Salgaocar keeper Juje Siddi. But Salgaocar fought back in the second half and East Bengal's unbeaten goal fell well 500 minutes into the league, when substitute MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi shot home a cross from Tomba Singh to equal things at one a-piece. Dudu even had the chance to put Salgaocar ahead but Arun Malhotra made a goalline save and when things looked as if East Bengal would get their second successive draw, Gilmar found Malswam Tulunga on the right, the youngster passed into the middle and Nigerian striker Mike Okoro connected to score the winner in injury time.
EAST BENGAL: Sandip Nandy, Surya Bikash Chakraborty, Arun Malhotra, Deepak Mondal, M Suresh, Sasthi Duley, Chandan Das (Subhashish Roy Chowdhury), Shanmugam Venkatesh (Malswam Tulunga), Alvito D'Cunha (Kalia Kulothungan), Gilmar de Goncalves, Mike Okoro.
SALGAOCAR: Juje Siddi, Bello Rasaq, Roberto Fernandes, Covan Lawrence, Manitombi Singh (Prashant Jaggi), Jose Esteves, Jatin Singh Bisht (Dharamjit Singh), Climax Lawrence, Tomba Singh; Alex Ambrose (MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi), Sunday Seah.

36.All-India Ballarpur Industries Limited Trophy - Yamunanagar, Haryana - Final: Gorkha Brigade 3-0 ONGC, Dehra Dun
Delhi Senior Division - Group B: Indian Air Force, Delhi 1-0 Garhwal Heroes
Delhi Senior Division - Group B: Moonlight Club 1-0 City Club
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Men's Group A: West Bengal 1-0 Goa
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Men's Group A: Maharashtra 0-2 Services
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Women's Group B: Andhra Pradesh 4-2 Orissa
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Women's Group B: Bihar 3-1 Kerala

Note-1: Former Olympian footballer Abdul T Rahman, a former Mohun Bagan captain in the mid-1960s, died at a private hospital in Kozhikode, Kerala on Sunday following a brief illness. He was 68. Rahman was part of the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Indian team, which India finished fourth, is survived by his wife, two sons - including former national footballer Haris - and a daughter. He has been under treatment for some time following lung cancer but his condition worsened and end came at 0040 hours on Sunday. One of the country's best-ever defenders who epitomised the spirit of Kerala football, Rahman was a regular member of the national squad from 1955, since being initiated into the game as a student here. After a stint with local teams, he shifted to Mohun Bagan in 1959 and even captained them in 1964. He represented Bengal in the Santosh Trophy for five years and was part of the winning side at Bangalore.

14. December
Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Delhi Police 1-1 Tarun Sangha
Delhi Senior Division - Group B: Indian Nationals FC 1-0 Shahdara Club
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Men's Group B: Andhra Pradesh 0-7 Kerala
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Men's Group B: Tamil Nadu 2-1 Punjab
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Women's Group A: West Bengal 6-3 Assam

Note-1: At a press conference for one of his sponsors in Calcutta today, Baichung Bhutia said, he hoped to be omitted by the selectors from the SAFF Cup preparation camp, to allow his calf muscle injury heal. Baichung was happy that only three National League matches where left before the break and hoped Bagan's performance would improve as the league progress'.

13. December
Delhi Senior Division - Group A: New Delhi Heroes 0-0 Mughals Club
Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Delhi Police 4-1 Buddhist Blue Star
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Men's Group A: West Bengal 1-1 Services
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Men's Group A: Goa 2-0 Maharashtra
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Women's Group B: Orissa 6-0 Bihar
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Women's Group B: Andhra Pradesh 1-0 Kerala

12. December
Will India be allowed to host international matches and/or tournaments in 2003?
It seems like no one really knows as the AIFF today informed that no action was being taken by the AFC Executive Committee on India, regarding the ban on international matches in India and a fine of $ 5,000. The AFC has asked the AIFF to file the full report before January 7, 2003.
In a statement, the AIFF president Das Munshi, said that the AFC Disciplinary Committee had not been posted of the progress of the findings of the AIFF Enquiry Committee instituted after the incidents in the final of the IFA Shield 2001.
The AFC Executive Committee had advised the AIFF to file the full report before January 7 to the Appeal Committee after a protest was made on the decision without having heard the full facts. "Only very recently, the Committee received Indian Football Association's observation and the Committee is yet to give its findings based on the statute of FIFA, AFC and AIFF and the rules of the Competition Committee." Das Munshi said. "However, since the AFC Disciplinary Committee, which met on December 9, were not posted with the latest progress of the Committee, and they took the decision," the statement added.
Lets hope that this is true and we will not be banned from hosting international matches.

7th National League - Calcutta: East Bengal Club 0-0 Churchill Brothers SC - Goals: none.
East Bengal dropped their first points of this National League, with a goalless draw against Goan side Churchill Brothers at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. East Bengal played like in their earlier matches but today they didn't create as many chances and the chances they had they didn't score, while Churchill Bros having a tough season so far were happy to get a point of this away match.
EAST BENGAL: Sandip Nandy, Deepak Mondal, Arun Malhotra, Douglas da Silva, Anit Ghosh (M Suresh), Sasthi Duley, Alvito D'Cunha, Shanmugam Venkatesh, Subhashish Roy Chowdhury (Surya Bikash Chakraborty), Gilmar de Silva Goncalves, Mike Okoro (Malswam Tulunga).
CHURCHILL: Edward Ansah, Denzie Ferrao, Mahesh Gawli (Pio Rodrigues), Osumanu Husseini, Rajesh Meetei, Roque Barreto (Zaheer Abbas), Noel Wilson, Nascimento Silveira, Ratan Singh, Yusif Yakubu, Kasif Jamal (Anil Kumar).

Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Hindustan Club 1-0 Tarun Sangha
Delhi Senior Division - Group B: Indian Air Force 1-0 Moonlight Club
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Men's Group B: Andhra Pradesh 0-1 Tamil Nadu
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Men's Group B: Punjab 2-0 Kerala
32.National Games - Hyderabad - Women's Group A: Manipur 8-0 West Bengal

11. December
Catastrophy has struck Indian football, as the Asian Football Confederation has slapped a one-year ban on the country hosting any international tournament/matches after it failed to provide a report on the violence-marred IFA-Shield final in Calcutta last year between East Bengal and Brazilian-side Palmeiras.
The decision was taken by the AFC's Executive Committee which was "seriously upset" that Indian officials had not sent the report on the IFA Shield final. "Despite numerous reminders and time extensions, the AIFF had yet to submit this report to the AFC," AFC general secretary Peter Vellappan said. The AIFF President Dasmunshi, who was present at the meeting, tried to defend India's case but the AFC found it fit to ban India saying it would "not tolerate violence". Vellapan said that the AIFF has also been imposed a fine of $5,000. "As we reward teams that are doing good for football, we also need to eliminate people who misuse the law," AFC president Mohammad Bin Hammam said.
Weird is that the AIFF is yet to receive any formal communication from the AFC regarding the ban.
We will try to find out more infos on why India where banned, as the IFA-Shield final violence is not the only reason for the ban but also crowd trouble across India over the last two years, among them: the crowd violence marred Santosh Trophy semifinals in Manipur and the crowd misbehaviour at grounds in Calcutta, Goa and Kochi.

7th National League - Goa: Vasco SC 2-2 Mahindra United - Goals: 0-1 RC Prakash (31'), 1-1,2-1 Marcos Pereira (43',70'), 2-2 Abhishek Yadav (89').
Indian international striker Abhishek Yadav's late goal helped Mahindra United to hold Vasco to a 2-2 draw in a National League match at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. RC Prakash had headed Mahindra into the lead in the 30.minute of a cross from Czech Petr Strandel but Vasco's inform Brazilian striker Marcos Pereira scored two goals on either side of the lemon break to shot Vasco into the lead. In the end it was not enough as Yadav scored the equaliser a minute from the final whistle.

7th National League - Ludhiana: JCT Mills 2-1 Indian Bank - Goals: 1-0 Kwabena Yeboah (4'), 1-1 Mohammed Quizar (10'), 2-1 Harvinder Singh (90+').
JCT at long last won their first match of this seasons National League, with a 2-1 victory against Indian Bank at the Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana. JCT had taken an earlier lead, when a cross from Hardip Saini was met by Ghanian striker Kwabena Yeboah with the ball going into the net past Bank keeper Felix Edward, after hitting the left upright and then the right pole. Only six minutes later Indian Bank equalised, when a freekick taken by Harish was headed in by Mohammed Quizar but the match was JCTs in extratime, when Jaswinder made an opening on the right, passing the ball to Harvinder Singh, who scored the winner.

Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Simla Youngs 1-0 Frontiers Club
Delhi Senior Division - Group B: Indian Nationals FC 3-0 Garhwal Heroes

10. December
26.Amba Medhi Cup - final: Assam State Electricity Board 2-0 Guwahati Town Club
Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Mughals Club 1-0 Buddhist Blue Star
Delhi Senior Division - Group B: City Club 1-0 Goans SC

Note-1: According to a press release, the Durand Cup will start on December 26, 2002 at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi with the final slated for January 10, 2003. Top teams from across India will take part in India's oldest tournament.

9. December
7th National League - Calcutta: Tollygunge Agragami 1-1 Churchill Brothers SC - Goals: 0-1 Yakubu Yusif (50'), 1-1 Ashim Biswas (51').
Tollygunge were unlucky not to win against Churchill Brothers in a National League match at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. The teams drew 1-1 in a match ,which picked-up in the second half. Churchill took the lead in the 50.minute of a penalty talen by their Ghanian striker Yakubu Yusif, after Moses Owira had handled the ball but only a minute later Ashim Biswas equalised for Tollygunge off a cross from Mehtab Hossain. But Hossain was the culprit of missing a penalty 10 minutes from time, giving away a chance for Tolly to win.
TOLLYGUNGE: Arindam Ghosh, Amitava Chanda (Kabijit Khotel), Isiaka Awoyemi, Debkumar Sashmal, Dipayan Majumdar, Mehtab Hossain, Sandip Das, Moses Owira, Sujoy Dutta (Srikanta Dutta), Ashim Biswas, Akeem Abul Alem.
CHURCHILL: Edward Ansah, Denzil Ferrao, Mahesh Gawli, Osumanu Husseini, Rajesh Meetei, Roque Barreto (Zaheer Abbas), Nascimento Silveira, Noel Wilson, Kanta Singh (Ratan Singh) Yusuf Yakubu, Kasif Jamal (Tiken Singh).

Delhi Senior Division - Group A: New Delhi Heroes 1-0 Tarun Sangha
Delhi Senior Division - Group B: Moonlight Club 1-1 Shahdara Club
51.B.N. Mullick Police Cup - Jorhat - final: Border Security Force 1-1,4-2 Punjab Police (after penalties)

Note-1: The draw for the first and second Round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games were held today at the AFC Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. India face Turkmenistan in Round 1 on a home-and-away format, with the matches scheduled for April 5 and 19, 2003. If India overcome Turkmenistan, they would face Malaysia in Round 2, with the dates May 3 and June 7, 2003 fixed for the matches. And if India overcome Malaysia, India will play the final Round of the Asian Olympic qualifiers in one of the three Groups of four.
The Indian U23 team has received a draw, which makes it possible for the team to make it into the final Round, which our boys should aim for. With a talented set of players at the disposal of national coach Stephen Constantine and the likelihood that he will add some of the Indian U20 boys, India should be looking to go through, especially after having beaten Turkmenistan at the Asian Games 2002!

8. December
7th National League - Calcutta: Mohun Bagan AC 0-2 East Bengal Club - Goals: 0-1 Subhashish Roy Chowdhury (70'), 0-2 Alvito D'Cunha (90+').
East Bengal maintained their all-win record in the National League with a 2-0 win against Calcutta rivals Mohun Bagan at the Saltlake Stadium. Goals from two substitutes decided the match for East Bengal, Subhashish Roy Chowdhury headed in a Alvito D'Cunha cross in the 70.minute, while Alvito D'Cunha himself scored of a left-footed volley in injury time for the NFL pace-setters. Earlier until his substitution Baichung Bhutia was the main worry for East Bengal but he had to leave before the hour mark due to his injury problems with talented India junior Marlanki Sutang making his Bagan debut but the occasion wasn't the right one for the Shillong boy. The other debut, which had made much more headlines before the derby was that of East Bengal's new Brazilian striker Gilmar, who showed his class in patches but will have to do more in the future.
Alvito D'Cunha was declared ONGC Man of the Match.
MOHUN BAGAN: Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, Dulal Biswas, Isa Musah Eroje, Satish Bharti, Palash Karmakar, Jayanta Sen, Basudeb Mondal, Kajal Bhattacharya, Renedy Singh (Sunil Chetri), Jose Barreto, Baichung Bhutia (Marlanki Sutang).
EAST BENGAL: Sandip Nandy, Amjad Ali Khan (Subhashish Roy Chowdhury), Arun Malhotra, Deepak Mondal, Douglas da Silva, Sasthi Duley, Shanmugam Venkatesh, Anit Ghosh (Chandan Das), Kalia Kulothungan (Alvito D'Cunha), Gilmar da Silva Goncalves, Mike Okoro.

7th National League - Goa: Dempo SC 0-0 Mahindra United - Goals: none.
Dempo draw goalless against Mahindra United in a National League at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. In a match which didn't reach any heights, Mahindra had their chances in the first half, while dempo in the second but none scored.

Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Hindustan Club 1-0 Simla Youngs
Delhi Senior Division - Group B: Garhwal Heroes 1-2 Goans SC

Note-1: Referees, coaches and players participating in the ongoing National League have been brought under an insurance cover in case of injuries and accidents. Without going into much details about the plan, the AIFF president Das Munshi broadly indicated that as per the Rs. 150.000 policy, drawn in association with the United India Assurance, the victims would be reimbursed upto Rs. 50.000 in case of hospitalisation under a Mediclaim scheme. In case the covered person was incapacitated by injury or accident, he would be given an invalidity assurance. The AIFF will be paying the premiums and the deal with the insurer will formalised on Monday.
Das Munshi also announced at the press conference organised by the NFL sponsors that beginning on Sunday, a cheque of Rs 5,000 would be given to the player adjudged Man of the Match. The prize would be called ONGC Man of the Match award.
AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco informed at the press conference that a random dope test of players is likely to start from the second phase of the NFL."Any player from any team may be chosen for testing after any match without prior announcement," Colaco said.
Colaco added that clubs participating in the NFL would have to field teams in the Junior National League, and any outfit failing to do so would be fined Rs 100.000. He said three of the four clubs taking part in the tournament from Goa - Salgaocar, Vasco and Dempo - had permanent junior sides. IFA joint secretary Ranjit Gupta said that two of the big clubs in the city - East Bengal and Mohun Bagan - had nursery teams, but were yet to form under-19 sides.
Colaco said the coaching camp for the Indian team for the upcoming SAFF Cup in Dhaka would begin in Calcutta from January 2.
He also disclosed that the 2.Division National League would be played in February/March 2003 and the details would be finalised at the AIFFs executive committee meeting in New Delhi on December 29.
The AIFF president regretted that Indian football was yet to have a professional set-up and announced that by the 10th edition of the National League the demarcation between professionals, semi-professionals and amateurs would be complete.
"Now also in the NFL forms we have an amateur/non-amateur option. But most players sign as amateurs as they are employed with banks, PSUs or other institutions," he said.

7. December
7th National League - Goa: Salgaocar SC 0-1 Vasco SC - Goals: 0-1 Rui Wanderley Weis (5').
An early goal from Brazilian striker Rui Wanderley Weis helped Vasco to a 1-0 victory against Goan rivals Salgaocar in a National League match at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. Weis netted the match-winner in the 5.minute off a stinging 20-yarder left-footer down the centre that crashed into the left corner after receiving a pass from midfielder Menino Fernandes.
SALGAOCAR: Juje Siddi, Manitombi Singh (Jatin Singh Bisht), Covan Lawrence, Roberto Fernandes, Bello Rasaq, Denis Cabral (Climax Lawrence), Bungo Singh, Dharamjit Singh (Alex Ambrose), Tomba Singh, Sunday Seah, MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi.
VASCO: Rogerio Ramos, Seby Dias, Sanjay Parte, Selwyn Fernandes, Satish Minz (Santa Singh), Menino Fernandes, Riston Rodrigues, Abhay Kumar (Jules Alberto), Sushanth Mathew (Nitin Pradhan), Marcos Pereira, Rui Wanderley Weis.

7th National League - Bangalore: Indian Telephone Industries 0-0 JCT Mills - Goals: none.
Indian Telephone Industries played out a goalless draw against JCT Mills in the National League at the Bangalore Football Stadium. Both team remain at the bottom of the NFl wizth two, after they worked hard to score goals but it didn't materialize today.

Delhi Senior Division - Group B: Indian Air Force, New Delhi 3-1 Shahdara Club

Note-1: The draw for the preliminary and qualifying rounds of the Asian Cup 2004 was held in Beijing, China with delegates from the Asian Football Confederation and Chinese football officials joining hands to launch the tournament. India will take on North Korea in the preliminary round Group G - this group just has these two teams! The Group winner will advance to the Qualifing round Group D. If India advances, they will have to take on Asian giants Iran, Jordan and Lebanon. The two top teams from this Group reach the Asian Cup 2004 finals in China.
Preliminary round: Group A: Myanmar (157), Brunei (193), Maldives (151); Group B: Taipei (165), East Timor (not ranked), Sri Lanka (140); Group C: Kyrgyzstan (169), Afghanistan (not ranked), Nepal (163); Group D: Hong Kong (149), Laos (168), Bangladesh (156); Group E: Pakistan (177), Singapore (119), Macau (186); Group F: Bhutan (199), Mongolia (190), Guam (200); Group G: India (127), North Korea (127).
Qualifying round: Group A: Uzbekistan (92), Thailand (70), Tajikistan (164), winner D; Group B: Qatar (65), Kuwait (79), Palestine (150), winner E; Group C: Saudi Arabia (38), Yemen (145), Indonesia (108), winner F; Group D: Iran (34), Jordan (85), Lebanon (111), winner G; Group E: South Korea (20), Oman (93), Vietnam (120), winner C; Group F: Iraq (50), Bahrain (104), Malaysia (123), winner A; Group G: UAE (79), Syria (94), Turkmenistan (132), winner B
(in brackets, the latest FIFA ranking of the national teams).

6. December
Delhi Senior Division - Group A: New Delhi Heroes 1-0 Frontiers Club

Note-1: UMBRO, the UK sports gear manufacturer, might return into Indian football after a gap of over five years. Umbro is planning to sponsor a top team in India and also popularise the game among kids. "We are speaking to the top soccer teams in the country and would support one of them," Baffin Yip, Umbro's head of Asia Pacific operations, said in a press release. Umbro also plans to rope in a football celebrity to endorse its products - apparel, footwear and equipment especially designed for football.

Note-2: The tension ahead of the East Bengal - Mohun Bagan derby is growing further. The IFA today held a joint pre-match press conference to inform the media about the arrangements for Sunday's match between the two traditional rivals at Saltlake stadium. But the press conference was marred by controversy as Mohun Bagan didn't turn up. Reasons behind it, are tensions with the IFA. The reason is that the Bagan wanted to organise it's own NFL matches but was disallowed by the IFA.
About ticket pricing: Members of both clubs will have to pay Rs 5 per ticket, while other tickets have been priced at Rs 15,20,25 and 30.

5. December
Delhi Senior Division - Group B: City Club 2-0 Garhwal Heroes
25.Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy - Northeast Zone final - Aizawl: Manipur 1-1,5-4 Assam (after penalties)

Note-1: With East Bengal having an all win record, while Mohun Bagan having won only one, drawing three, an interesting match-up is on the cards in the Sunday National League derby between the Calcutta rivals. A big crowd is expected in a high-tension match.
Mohun Bagan had an interesting guest today, Indian Tennis star, Leander Paes. Leander had a 90 minute training session with the Bagan team. Later talking to reporters, Leander said: "Playing soccer is a way of keeping myself fit. And it's really been a passion for me over the years." Leander didn't disclose whom he supports on Sunday but he trained today with Bagan but his father used to be team doctor at East Bengal. Paes also met longtime friend Baichung Bhutia and said that he will miss the derby as he is flying over to Florida for a three week training camp.

4. December
7th National League - Goa: Vasco SC 2-1 Indian Bank - Goals: 1-0,2-1 Marcos Pereira (2',35'), 1-1 Kasun Nadika Jayasuriya (15').
In a National League match at the Nehru Stadium, Margao Vasco beat Indian Bank 2-1, thanks to two goals by Brazilian midfielder Marcos Pereira. Marcos opened the scoring for Vasco in the 2.minute of a pass from Sushanth Mathew but Indian Bank equalised in the 15.minute through a solid shot by Lankan striker Kasun Nadika Jayasuriya. The decider came in the 35.minute, when Marcos again received a useful pass of Mathew, dribbled past a few Bankmen and then shot into the goal. For promoted Indian Bank, it was the first defeat in this NFL, while Vasco scored their second successive victory.
VASCO: Rogerio Ramos, Seby Dias, Selwyn Fernandes, Sanjay Parte, Satish Minz, Menino Fernandes (Nitin Pradhan), Riston Rodrigues, Abhay Kumar, Sushanth Mathew, Marcos Pereira, Rui Wanderley Weis (Jules Alberto).
INDIAN BANK: Felix Edward, David Maria Gerald, Imran Mohammed, Anthony Noel, DC Nathaniel, VK Harish, Mohammed Quizar (Amalraj, Basheer Ahmed), Noah Rozario, Ravi Babu (Bobby Hamilton), Kasun Nadika Jayasuriya, Syed Shabir Pasha.

7th National League - Bangalore: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited 1-0 JCT Mills - Goal: 1-0 Raja Baliev Nurlan (24').
HAL won their first match of this edition of the National League, a hard-fought 1-0 victory against JCT Mills at the Bangalore Football Stadium. HAL's striker Raja Baliev Nurlan from Kyrgyzstan scored of a rebound in the 24.minute but JCT had numerous chances to even the match or maybe even walk away as winners, which they just couldn't utilise.

Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Hindustan Club 4-0 Buddhist Blue Star

Note-1: The All-Manipur Football Association has requested Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh to provide jobs and incentives to members of the state's victorious Santosh Trophy team, as he had promised after the final. The government had announced soon after the state won the final on November 5 that Shantikumar Singh, a senior coach with the state youth affairs and sports department, would be given a "deserving promotion".

Note-2: TK Kuriyan, a Kerala's state panel football referee, was killed in a road accident at Chiyaram near Thrissur. Kuriyan, 36, a former PE Teacher at the CMS Higher Secondary School was killed when the bike, he was travelling on collided with a private bus. He was supposed to officiate today at the Inter-University Football Championship in Thrissur.

3. December
7th National League - Mumbai: Mahindra United 1-1 Mohun Bagan AC - Goals: 1-0 Odartey Lawswon (23'), 1-1 Baichung Bhutia (90+').
In the end Mohun Bagan were lucky to get away with a 1-1 draw against Mahindra United in a National League match at the Cooperage Ground, Mumbai. Mahindra controlled the match and should walked away with a victory but they were leading only by one goal, when disaster struck. In injury-time Bagan's Jayanta Sen took a shot at goal, a defender deflected the shot and Indian captain Baichung Bhutia shot into an empty net to equalise. Earlier Mahindra took the lead in the 23.minute, when Nigerian defender Odartey Lawson headed in a freekick by Czech midfielder Peter Strandel but after that they wasted numerous chances.
Bagan now concentrate on the big one, the Calcutta derby against city rivals East Bengal on December 8 but Bagan will miss the services of inform Nigerian George Ekeh due to a double yellow card bookings.

Delhi Senior Division - Group B: Indian Nationals FC 0-0 Goans SC

Note-1: 42 Countries, including India, will play for the 2004 Asian Cup Championship title to be held 2004 in China. India will start its Qualifier campaign from the preliminary rounds to be played between March 23-30 2003. The draw for the preliminary rounds will be carried out on December 7 in China. The preliminary rounds will be played in a group format with the winners of the seven groups moving in to the qualifying round. The top two teams from the seven qualifying groups will complete the 16-team line-up for the finals, the dates of which are yet to be confirmed.

2. December
7th National League - Goa: Salgaocar SC 2-0 Indian Telephone Industries - Goals: 1-0 MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi (27'), 2-0 Alex Ambrose (64').
Former champions Salgaocar defeated Indian Telephone Industries 2-0 in a National League match at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. On-loan Nigerian striker MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi opened the scoring in the 27.minute of a cross from fellow striker Alex Ambrose, who himself consolidated the lead in the 64.minute but this was not the whole story. Salgaocar dominated the match and could have scored more goals but were denied by the excellent ITI keeper Gumpe Rime, who made some outstanding saves.

Delhi Senior Division - Group A: Mughals Club 0-0 Simla Youngs

Note-1: Some good news for our war-torn south Asian neighbours Afghanistan.
indianfootball.com has received information from Nepal that Afghanistan will take part in comming up SAFF Cup 2003 in Dhaka, Bangladesh! The SAFF President, Ganesh Thapa, confirmed this when he was talking to the Nepalese Spacetime daily. Of interest to us, Afghanistan will be included in Group A along with defending champions India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

1. December
The All Manipur Football Association has decided to file a defamation suit against The Times of India and its sports reporter Saumyajit Basu after the daily had printed reports filed by the reporter in what the AMFA alleged was 'unjournalistic'. The AMFA has also decided to ban the daily through out Manipur and has also asked the newspaper to clarify its stand.
Disturbing to know that a state association, not happy with a critical article can force a paper to get banned...