29. April
SPORTING CLUBE DE GOA & MOHAMMEDAN SPORTING CLUB have gained promotion to the NATIONAL LEAGUE!!!
Congratulations from the indianfootball.com team to the two clubs and their fans!

2.Division National League - Final Round - Delhi: Sporting Clube de Goa 3-0 Air-India - Goals: 1-0,2-0 Amaechi Nwabunwanne (24',50'), 3-0 Vincent Pires (78').
Sporting Clube de Goa made it into the National League with an easy 3-0 victory against Air-India but the celebrations might have been dampened, as the AIFF will decide in the coming days, if Sporting Clube broke the "on loan" rule, having had signed three players from Goa on loan, which isn't allowed. What will happen then, no one really knows, as the teams from the qualifiers until the finals could theoretically ask for a replay, as the allegations where made before the end of the league. So lets wait and see...

2.Division National League - Final Round - Delhi: Mohammedan Sporting Club 2-1 State Bank of Travancore - Goals: 0-1 Abdul Basheer (41'), 1-1 Dipendu Biswas (50'), 2-1 Syed Rahim Nabi (63').
Seven years after the start of the National League, one of India's oldest clubs Mohammedan Sporting Club has made it into the Premier Division! Last season Mohammedan Sporting were fighting to stay in the Calcutta Super Division, this season the team had been rebuild and the good second-place finish in the Calcutta Super Division was topped by the promotion into the NFL.

Note-1: On the day, when Sporting Clube de Goa and Calcutta's Mohammedan Sporting Club qualified for next seasons National League, the AIFF executive president PP Lakshmanan in Kozhikode today called for a 'rethink' over the National League format, as the much-hyped league failed to achieve its 'goal'.
Lakshmanan told the press, "There is no gain in continuing with the same format, as football is mostly limited to Bengal and Goa. Certain venues were overexposed to football, raking little enthusiasm while lot of other potential venues had no exposure," he said. The format was launched in 1996-97 with a goal of bringing about a 'total revolution' in Indian football. But the NFL had failed in bringing in the desired comprehensive development, Lakshmanan, who was among the key officials to prepare and launch the format, said.
He also lamented that top players from other countries were expected to participate in the league thus providing the Indian players with a better exposure. However, the present lot of foreign recruits were just mediocre, almost on par with the Indian players, and clubs were not in a financial position to recruit great players, he opined.
"The feeling that Indian football is all about the 12 NFL teams is not right," he said.
On one side I agree that it is a catastrophy for Indian football that nine of the 12 NFL sides are from either Goa or Calcutta but the NFL over the years has proved that other teams have not been competitive enough. Surely places like Kerala, Bangalore and even the capital Delhi need NFL football for the game to spread but for that to happen, the league will have to be expanded to 16, maybe even 18 teams and played all year true. And some clubs asked to play their home matches somewhere else in India. Teams outside Calcutta and Goa, except Mahindra and JCT have not been able to keep pace with the two hubs of Indian football.

28. April
7th National League - Goa: Salgaocar SC 2-0 East Bengal Club - Goals: 1-0 Sebastiao Endro (22'), 2-0 Sunday Seah (54').
Salgaocar mesmerised a not-too-impressive-and-motivated East Bengal 2-0 to finish second as curtains came down, finally, on the 7th National League, at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda. Little-known Salgaocar striker Sebastiao Endro got Salgaocar's first goal in the 22.minute while the ever-reliable Liberian sharpshooter Sunday Seah got the second (deflection off M Suresh), nine minutes after changing over. But the day clearly belonged to Salgaocar medio Jatin Singh Bisht, who later picked his sixth Man of the Match award. Watched by a semi-packed stadium, Salgaocar were the dominant side and made the already crowned Kolkata side look nothing short of minnows. But as East Bengal coach Subash Bhowmick admitted later, having already pocketed the title, "they were not motivated enough."
"They have already given me the NFL title. What more can I ask for," he said, after his boys merely completed the formality of playing ninety minutes at Nehru Stadium, Goa. Having benched five of his regulars -- Alvito D'Cunha, Sangram Mukherjee, Shanmugam Venkatesh, Arun Malhotra and Subhas Chakraborty - it was clear East Bengal were not interested enough in a win. And Salgaocar made the best out of it. "We were looking for the second spot and I am glad we got it," Salgaocar coach Savio Madeira told reporters after the match, pointing to the Champions League berth. Subash Bhowmick was the first to admit that Salgaocar, deservedly, finished second. "To my eyes, they were the best of the lot. Its midfield was as good as it gets," Bhowmick maintained.
Bhowmick probably has a point as the midfield quartet of Tomba Singh, Jatin Singh, Dharamjit Singh and Climax Lawrence were streets ahead of their rivals as they tore apart the East Bengal at random. And at the centre of it all was Jatin Singh Bisht, who picked his sixth man of the match award.
To the goals, Sebastiao Endro, messily, finished off a Dharamjit Singh corner kick to put Salgaocar ahead in the 22.minute of play.
With Mike Okoro the only threat upfront for the Salgaocar citadel there were not too many edgy moments for the home team. However, East Bengal could have restored parity but Salgaocar keeper Kalyan Chaubey dived full length to stop Mike Okoro from adding his name to the scoresheet. After the change of ends, Sundah Seah's full-blooded attempt from inside the danger zone, brushed East Bengal defender M Suresh and sailed into the nylons. Climax Lawrence came close to scoring twice at the fag end of the match but lacked juice in his boots while going for the kill. The only blot on the otherwise entertaining play was the red card to East Bengal's Douglas da Silva. The Brazilian earned the ire of the fans and Thailand referee Mongkol Rungklay, after he nastily tackled Tomba Singh from behind.
PK Sharma of ONGC was the chief guest for the ultimate encounter. Also present for the prize distribution were Vinod Krishna of ONGC, Faizal Kashmiri of Strata Marketing, Goa Sports Minister Francisco Mickky Pacheco and Shivanand Salgaocar.
SALGAOCAR: Kalyan Chaubey, Manitombi Singh, Roberto Fernandes, Covan Lawrence, Bello Rasaq, Tomba Singh, Dharamjit Singh (Dennis Cabral), Climax Lawrence, Jatin Singh Bisht, Sebastiao Endro (Alex Ambrose), Sunday Seah.
East Bengal: VP Satish Kumar, Subhashish Roy Chaudhury, Suley Musah, M Suresh, Deepak Mondal, Raju Singh (Subhas Chakraborty), Malswam Tulunga, Douglas da Silva, Kalia Kulothungan (Chandan Das), Dipankar Roy (Alvito D'Cunha), Mike Okoro.

7th National League - Mumbai: Mahindra United 1-2 Vasco SC - Goals: 0-1 Menino Fernandes (53'), 1-1 Odartey Lawson (54'), 1-2 Agnelo Jose Gomes (80').
Vasco ended the season with a 2-1 win at Mahindra United, after having crashed to a heavy defeat in the round earlier against champions East Bengal. Though Vasco won today at the Cooperage Ground, they could only finish third as Salgaocar beat East Bengal. Vasco went into the lead in the 53.minute, when a Shamshi Raza freekick was connected by Menino Fernandes but the lead lasted only a minute as Mahindra's Ghanian defender Odartey Lawson equalised. Vasco's winner came in the 80.minute, when Agnelo Jose Gomes broke free beating a defender and the goalie to score.

7th National League - Chennai: Indian Bank 1-3 JCT Mills - Goals: 1-0 Kasun Nadika Jayasuriya (70'), 1-1 IM Vijayan (71'), 1-2,1-3 Charanjit Kumar (79',80').
JCT Mills ended the National League season on a high with a 3-1 away victory against Indian Bank at the Nehru Stadium, Chennai. JCT had more of the match but in the 70.minute Sri Lankan striker Kasun Nadika Jayasuriya shot the Bankmen into the lead, which lasted only seconds as JCT equalised through seasoned IM Vijayan the very next minute. Then came substitute Charanjit Kumar, who scored in quick succession in the 79. and 80.minute to win the match for JCT.

7th National League - Bangalore: Indian Telephone Industries 1-5 Churchill Brothers SC - Goals: 0-1,0-2,1-5 Yakubu Yusif (17',20',81'), 1-2 Dipankar Chatterjee (56'), 1-3 Tiken Singh (59'), 1-4 Roque Barreto (79').
Indian Telephone Industries got trashed 1-5 by Churchill Brothers in their last National League match before relegation to the 2.Division at the Bangalore Football Stadium. Churchill Brothers Ghanian striker Yakubu Yusif scored three goals with Tiken Singh and Roque Barreto adding a goal each, while Dipankar Chatterjee had reduced for ITI in between. Yakubu Yusif with his three goals retained his NFL top scorer title, scoring 21 goals in total.

7th National League - Calcutta: Mohun Bagan AC 0-1 Hindustan Aeronautics Limited - Goal: 0-1 Sunil Kumar (69').
Mohun Bagan's National League campaign ended in the way it has been all through with an embarassing 0-1 defeat against relegated Hindustan Aeronautics Limited at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. Sunil Kumar scored the lone goal of the match in the 69.minute through a header from a Vijayakumar corner. Bagan without many of their regulars never looked as if the team wanted to win their last match, though after conceding the goal they had some good chances.
Mohun Bagan: Amit Sinha Roy, Dulal Biswas, Satish Bharti, Yakubu, Lolendra Singh, Basudeb Mondal, Palash Karmakar, Jayanta Sen, Renedy Singh (Gaurab Dutta), Sunil Chetri, Sheikh Sanjib (Amar Ganguly).
HAL: Mark Mascarenhas, Mehraj Din Wadoo, S Paramesh, Obinna Winner, Gift Rai Khan, Rajendra Prasad, Gregory Clarke, Xavier Vijayakumar, Sunil Kumar, Isfaq Ahmed, Prahlad Singh Rawat (HP Abhijeet).

27. April
7th National League - Calcutta: Tollygunge Agragami 2-3 Dempo SC - Goals: 0-1 Clifford Miranda (12'), 0-2 EB Channa (52'), 1-2 Niladri Chakraborty (67'), 1-3 Stanley Colaco (68'), 2-3 Ashim Biswas (69').
In their last National League match of the season, Tollygunge Agragami lost 2-3 against Goans Dempo SC at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. Dempo took an early lead in the 12.minute when Clifford Miranda scored and Sri Lankan striker doubled the lead seven minutes into the second half, through a Tollygunge defensive mistake. Then three goals were scored in less than 180 seconds from the 67.minute on. First Tollygunge's Niladri Chakraborty reduced the deficit to half, then Stanley Colaco shot Dempo back into a two goal lead, then Ashim Biswas scored the final goal for Tollygunge. Thereafter Tollygunge had chances to equalise but the score remained at 2-3 against them.
TOLLYGUNGE: Shibram Dey, Isiaka Awoyemi, Sujit Neogi, Debkumar Sashmal, Biswarup Bisu, Soumen Mondal (Sumit Bhakta), Moses Owira, Laltu Das, Sujay Dutta, Niladri Chakraborty, Ashim Biswas.
DEMPO: Abhijit Mondal, Melvyn Rodrigues (Ratan Singh), Stanley Colaco, Jose Luciano, Sameer Naiky, Lazarus Fernandes, Mario Soares, Clifford Miranda, Jose Colaco, EB Channa, Bijen Singh (Levy Coelho).

2.Division National League - Final Round - Delhi: Mohammedan Sporting Club 0-0 Sporting Clube de Goa - Goals: none.

Note-1: The AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco today reacted to the allegations made by Fransa FC president Mickky Pacheco against the AIFF in regard to Sporting Clube de Goa violating the "on loan" rule. In a press release the AIFF said that it had been dragged into something, which had to do with a local state association. Further, the press release informed, whenever transfers take place, on loan or otherwise, within the same state associations, the concerned association does not have to necessarily inform the AIFF. However, in case of inter-state transfer the State Associations have to inform the AIFF
Giving transcript of Para 8 of AIFF circular on modalities of transfer which says "The concerned affiliated unit shall inform the AIFF within 5 days of any players who are transferred on loan within two affiliated (state associations) units. The period of the loan shall also be informed to the AIFF," Mr Colaco points out that accordingly neither the Goa FA nor any other state affiliated state association inform the AIFF of the transfers on loan or otherwise taking place within that unit (state association).
Even though the Fransa president has not send in a written complaint to the AIFF, the AIFF has asked the GFA to submit a report by May 3 on the accusations. If found guilty Sporting Clube could loose it's chance to get promoted to the NFL...

Note-2: The creme de la creme of Indian Sports Stars will assemble in New Delhi on April 30 for the HERO Indian Sports Awards function to be held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium at 19.00 IST. The multi-discipline sports awards function will honour, among others, our football superstar Baichung Bhutia. The presence of Bollywood stars will add a dash of glamour to the Awards. The HERO Indian Sports Awards will honour sporting excellence across all sports genres, which include Lifetime Achievement Award, Best Sportsman of the Year, Best Sports Woman, Best Team, Best Male Achiever, Best Female Achiever, outstanding performances in Chess, Badminton, Tennis, Cricket, Golf, Football, Hockey, Cue Sports, Athletics, Kabaddi, Shooting and Weightlifting.

26. April
2.Division National League - Final Round - Delhi: State Bank of Travancore 4-2 Air-India - Goals: 0-1 Anthony Fernandes (1'), 0-2 Suprith Jathanna (11'), 1-2 MA Abdul Hakkim (35'), 2-2 Abdul Noushad (52'), 3-2,4-2 Sylvester Ignatius (54',75').

Note-1: The AIFF released the names of 46 players who will represent the country in senior and under-23 matches in the coming 2003/04 season. As part of the preparation, the players will be attending a workshop which will asses their medical, physical and psychological fitness, AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco said in a press release. The workshop to be held from June 9 to 12 at the Saltlake Stadium complex, Calcutta will be conducted by Dr Vece Paes, chairman of the AIFF medical committee, experts from the Sports Authority of India and private hospitals.
12 players in the list are from NFL champions East Bengal, with all Indian star players like Baichung Bhutia, Jo Paul Ancheri, IM Vijayan, Deepak Mondal, Renedy Singh, etc in the list. Also listed are talented former under-20 internationals Ashim Biswas, Malswam Tulunga, Subhas Chakraborty and Syed Rahim Nabi.
India's international commitments in the coming season are the defence of their LG Cup title in Vietnam in September and the Afro-Asian Games hosted by India in November.
The probables: Sandip Nandy, Sangram Mukherjee, VP Satish Kumar, Deepak Mondal, Arun Malhotra, M Suresh, Raju Singh, Shanmugam Venkatesh, Dipankar Roy, Subhash Chakraborty, Malswam Tulunga, Alvito D'Cunha (all East Bengal Club), Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, Satish Bharti, Lolendra Singh, Renedy Singh, Sheikh Sanjib, Sunil Chetri, Baichung Bhutia, (all Mohun Bagan AC), Manitombi Singh, Tomba Singh, Jatin Singh Bisht, Climax Lawrence, Alex Ambrose (all Salgaocar SC), Naseem Akhtar, Debjit Ghosh, Peter Siddique, Khalid Jamil, Abhishek Yadav (all Mahindra United), Jo Paul Ancheri, Sukhwinder Singh, IM Vijayan, Harpreet Singh (all JCT Mills), Selwyn Fernandes, Jules Alberto, Abhay Kumar (all Vasco SC), Mahesh Gawli, Roque Barreto, Noel Wilson (all Churchill Brothers SC), Vinu Jose, Krishnan Nair Ajayan (all State Bank of Travancore), Sameer Naik (Dempo SC), Ashim Biswas (Tollygunge Agragami), Ishfaq Ahmed (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited), Syed Rahim Nabi (Mohammedan Sporting Club), Praveen Kumar (Punjab Police).

Note-2: Fransa FC president Francisco Xavier "Mickky" Pacheco, also Goan Sports Minister, has accused Sporting Clube de Goa of flouting rules, laid down by the AIFF, by registering three loanee players and charged the federation of double standards. As per AIFF rules, only "two players" can be registered on loan during a season, but Sporting Clube has registered three players in violation of the rule to suit its purpose, Pacheco informed the press. "Sporting has registered the services of three loan players - Vishant Pednekar (MPT), Vicco D'Souza (Dempo) and Bungo Singh (Salgaocar) - thereby violating the rules," he said. Accusing the AIFF and GFA of working hand in glove with Sporting to serve the club's purpose, Pacheco said both federations had "intentionally" overlooked the violation. Pacheco accused Sporting president and GFA treasurer Peter Vaz and GFA ad-hoc committee joint-secretary Victor Fernandes of misusing their positions to bend the rules. Pacheco said the GFA and AIFF had disallowed Fransa to register a new player in November 2002, when Nicholas Fernandes, a loanee from St Anthony's Club, Colva, had to leave the club for an entire season due to injury. The Fransa president said when he approached the GFA and AIFF to know whether his team could register another player in lieu of Nicholas as the latter did not play any match, both federations said it could not be done. "If that is the case then how did AIFF allow Sporting to register an additional loanee?", Pacheco asked. Clarifying that his outbursts are not because Sporting have qualified for the 2.Division National League final phase, Pacheco, reiterated that the AIFF and GFA did not do justice to his team on the loan players issue. Citing another instance, he said both the federations had allowed two players - Benedict Fernandes (Agassaim Youth Club) and James Noronha (Friends XI) - to play for second divsion clubs. "This transfer is not possible since article 18 of the special provision of the competition disallows a transfer of a player in the same division", he said. Pachecho said he will lodge a formal complaint with the GFA and AIFF shortly and demand an enquiry into the issue of loanee players with Sporting. "In case, the federation fails to take action, Fransa will not hesitate to knock the doors of justice and, if required, would jeopardize the ongoing NFL in Delhi," he added.

Note-3: As reported earlier at indianfootball.com, the Calcutta Sports Journalists' Club had named Alvito D'Cunha has footballer of the year and Ashim Biswas as "most promising footballer". But we had not received the info that Sujata Kar had been named "women footballer of the year". Last Thursday then, the players received their awards from Samar Banerjee, the captain of India's 1956 Olympic football team at a function in Calcutta.
Interesting to note is that Alvito D'Cunha said at the function that the offer from South African club Manning Rangers was still there and that he could move to South Africa in the summer.

25. April
EAST BENGAL CLUB are the 7th NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!!!
Congratulations from the indianfootball.com team to East Bengal Club and it's numerous fans!

7th National League - Calcutta: East Bengal Club 4-0 Vasco SC - Goals: 1-0,2-0 Douglas da Silva (13',47'), 3-0 Malswam Tulunga (67'), 4-0 Mike Okoro (82').
Under heavy pressure the best of teams show and prove their class and that is what East Bengal did today against Vasco SC in the 7th National League decider at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. East Bengal trashed Vasco comprehensively 4-0 and if Mike Okoro had used more of his numerous chances, it could have been worse for the Goans and their just 16 day old record of the highest NFL victory (8-0 Vs HAL) could have been in danger...
Brazilian defensive midfielder Douglas da Silva opened the scoring for East Bengal with a class of a goal in the 13.minute, when after a corner he took a back-volley with the ball going into the far corner of the net. Two minutes into the second half Douglas doubled the lead and his own second goal. About an hour into the match Alvito D'Cunha was substituted for the talented Mizoram rookie Malswam Tulunga, who showed his classy runs down the right flank. Tulunga scored his teams third in the 67.minute, when he went loose on the right, moved into the box and scored past Vasco keeper Rogerio Ramos. And the final nail on Vasco's title hopes was scored by Nigerian striker Mike Okoro, when he scored of a Tulunga cross eight minutes from time. After the final whistle it was party time for team, management and fans after a memorable and record-breaking NFL campaign.
East Bengal coach Subhas Bhowmick said after the match, "Winning this was a matter of time. I knew it was coming." And he has now set his teams aims on the bigger Asian stage. His first aim will be to win the title at the ASEAN Club Championships in July and afterthat aim to reach the quarterfinal group stage of the Asian Champions League. So lets see what East Bengal can do in Asia. Success on the bigger Asian stage will also help Indian football!
A dejected Vasco coach Derrick Pereira said: "We got beaten by a better team. My midfield did not play well. In fact, my players tried to prove their individual brilliance and there we failed."
EAST BENGAL: Sangram Mukherjee, Deepak Mondal, M Suresh, Suley Musah, Sasthi Duley, Shanmugam Venkatesh, Chandan Das (Dipankar Roy), Douglas da Silva, Alvito D'Cunha (Malswam Tulunga), Mike Okoro.
VASCO: Rogerio Ramos, Seby Dias, Sanjay Parte, Franky Barreto (Satish Minz), Selwyn Fernandes, Sushanth Matthew (Abhay Kumar), Jules Alberto, Menino Fernandes, Rui Wanderlei Weis, Marcos Pereira, Agnelo Jose Gomes (Nitin Pradhan).

24. April
The top of the table clash between league leaders East Bengal against second-placed Vasco SC tomorrow at 15.45 IST at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta could decide the faith of the 7th National League. Currently East Bengal have 46 points from 20 matches, with Vasco six points behind. If East Bengal win or draw the title is theirs, while a win for Vasco keeps the league open until the last and final Round, as East Bengal would then have only a three point lead, with East Bengal having to travel to Goa to play third-placed (after today's win second) Salgaocar, not an easy match, giving then Vasco hope, who themselves have to travel to Mumbai to play Mahindra United. But back to the big summit clash. The match is not only between East Bengal and Vasco but it also pits India's footballing mecca's against each other, Calcutta (Bengal) Vs Goa; it is a match between two of India's best coaches in Subhas Bhowmick and Vasco's Derrick Pereira; and it is a match-up between two of the best strikers in the Indian leagues, East Bengal's Mike Okoro and Vasco's Marcos Pereira. There are definit rumours surrounding the two strikers, while the Nigerian with a Polish passport Okoro is likely to leave East Bengal for Poland, Brazilian Marcos Pereira is said to have signed a contract last night with city giants Mohun Bagan to partner fellow countrymen Jose Barreto in the coming season.
If East Bengal seal their second NFL title tomorrow, it will be the right finish to a perfect season for the Calcutta giants, who where the best team in the Indian circuit this season and have proved that nearly all year through!

7th National League - Goa: Salgaocar SC 4-2 Indian Bank - Goals: 0-1 KG Joseph (27'), 1-1 Sebastiao Endro (52'), 2-1,3-2 Climax Lawrence (60',75'), 2-2 J Anandavasan (70'), 4-2 Alex Ambrose (76').
Salgaocar remained in contention for a second-place finish the National League with a 4-2 comeback victory against Indian Bank at the Nehru Stadium, Margao. Salgaocar trailed the Bankman's goal by KG Joseph's 27.minute goal at the breather but came back strongly in the second half and scored four goals in just 25 minutes. Sebastiao Endro (52.), Climax Lawrence (60.,75.) and substitute Alex Ambrose (77.) succeeded in turning the match around while J Anandavasan (70.) was only able to reduce the margin. The score was a repeat of their first-leg scoreline in Chennai.

7th National League - Calcutta: Tollygunge Agragami 2-2 JCT Mills - Goals: 1-0 Ashim Biswas (8'), 1-1,2-1 Hardip Singh Gill (65',75'), 2-2 Akeem Abul Alem (89').
Tollygunge Agragami drew 2-2 with JCT Mills in a National League match at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. Tollygunge controlled the match and took an early lead through youngster Ashim Biswas in the 8.minute, his 10th goal in the league. But things changed in the second half, when an off-colour IM Vijayan was replaced by Hardip Singh Gill, who scored two goals in ten minutes to turn the match upside-down for Tollygunge. But Tollygunge were at least able to get a point from the match as Nigerian striker Akeem Abul Alem equalised a minute from minute.
TOLLYGUNGE: Arindam Ghosh, Kabijit Khotel, Sujit Neogi, Debkumar Sashmal, Isiaka Awoyemi, Mehtab Hussain (Biswarup Bisu), Sandip Das, Moses Owira, Sujoy Datta, Ashim Biswas, Akeem Abul Alem.
JCT: Mansuru Mohammed, Taranjit Singh, Musa Aliu, Harpreet Singh, Daljit Singh, Jaswinder Singh, Hardeep Singh Saini, Jo Paul Ancheri, Ram Pal (Sukhwinder Singh), IM Vijayan (Hardeep Singh Gill), Kwabena Yeboah (Charanjit Kumar).

2.Division National League - Final Round - Delhi: Mohammedan Sporting Club 2-1 Air-India - Goals: 1-0 Eugene Grey (55'), 2-0 Awal Ibrahim (60'), 2-1 Anthony Fernandes (66').

23. April
In the latest FIFA world rankings INDIA have lost three places and are now ranked No. 126, while in Asia they dropped a spot to 22. In the rankings, the two matches against North Korea in the Asia Cup qualifiers, a draw and a loss, have been included explaining INDIAs move down the ladder.

7th National League - Calcutta: Mohun Bagan AC 3-3 Indian Telephone Industries - Goals: 1-0,3-3 Baichung Bhutia (2',80'), 1-1,1-3 Mohammed Najeeb (62',75'), 1-2 Tejinder Kumar (70'), 2-3 Sunil Chetri (76').
Mohun Bagan escaped from the blushes of a defeat against relegated Indian Telephone Industries with a 3-3 draw in a inconsiquential National League match at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. Mohun Bagan started the match on a bright note, when much criticised Baichung Bhutia scored the opener in the 2.minute after receiving a pass from Renedy Singh. Thereafter Bagan had chances to increase the lead but they didn't use the chances that came their way. In the second half the match suddenly took a dramatic turn, as relegated ITI realised that they had a chance to score an upset win against a Bagan, on whom the surrounding circumstances took their effect. In 13 minutes from the 62.minute onwards two goals from Mohammed Najeeb and another by seasoned Tejinder Kumar put ITI 3-1 infront but Bagan directly hit back, when youngster Suni Chetri reduced the deficit in the 76.minute. The equaliser was scored by a strong Baichung Bhutia and in the end Bagan even had the chance to win the match but the teams settled for a 3-3 draw.
MOHUN BAGAN: Bibhas Ghosh (Rajat Ghosh Dastidar), Santosh Singh (Ranjan Dey), Dulal Biswas, Satish Bharti, Palash Karmakar, Jayanta Sen, Basudeb Mondal (Ajay Kumar Singh), Jose Barreto, Renedy Singh, Sunil Chetri, Baichung Bhutia.
ITI: Gumpe Rime, Akshay Das, AS Firoze (Dipankar Chatterjee), KV Dhanesh, Tejinder Singh, Niyaz Rehman, J Muralidharan (Louis Nickson), James Singh, CK Jiteesh (K Naushad), Jiten Rai, Mohammed Najeeb.

7th National League - Goa: Churchill Brothers SC 1-0 Mahindra United - Goal: 1-0 Yakubu Yusif (85').
Mumbai giants Mahindra United's jinxed campaign in the 7th National League continued when they went down by a solitary goal to another struggling outfit Churchill Brothers, at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda. Mahindra United's top-scorer Ednei Damasio - better known as Junior - missed a penalty in the first session while Churchill's top-scorer Ghanaian Yakubu Yusif converted a spot-kick five minutes from close. Mahindra United were forced to play the last five minutes with 10 players after referee Dinesh Nair awarded a penalty and issued marching orders to international keeper Naseem Akhtar for dangerously fouling Yakubu Yusif inside the danger-zone. Yakubu himself converted the spot-kick to take his individual goal tally to 17 and inch closer to the highest goal-scorer award. If Yakubu manages to emerge as the highest-scorer he will be the first player to win the coveted honours twice. The win meant Churchill Bros jumped to the fourth spot with 34 points with a match in hand. Mahindra United on the otherhand remain on the eighth spot with 26 points. In an engrossing battle where both teams did not give an inch, Mahindra evidently had more of the chances while Churchill Bros enjoyed more ball possession. Mahindra's International Abhishek Yadav, Khalid Siddique and the highly-rated Brazilian Ednei Damasio, all missed sitters, largely due to unimaginative striking. Damasio, normally a good finisher, had the misfortune of seeing his spot-kick being acrobatically saved by Churchill's Ghanaian keeper Edward Ansah.
CHURCHILL: Edward Ansah, Denzie Ferrao, Mahesh Gawli, Noel Wilson, Rajesh Meetei, Roque Baretto, Zaheer Abbas (Tiken Singh), Aqueel Ansari, Ratan Singh, Benjamin Ansah, Yakubu Yusif.
MAHINDRA: Naseem Akhtar, Odartey Lawson, Anthony Pereira, Tapan Ghosh, Syed Hussein (Jinto Jose), Khalid Jamil, Khalid Siddique (Naushad Pari), James Singh, Hekmat Singh, Abhishek Yadav (Monga Aby Samson), Ednei Jose Damasio.

2.Division National League - Final Round - Delhi: State Bank of Travancore 2-5 Sporting Clube de Goa - Goals: 1-0,2-4 Sylvester Ignatius (5',56'), 1-1 Amaechi Nwabunwanne (23'), 1-2,1-3,2-5 Dudu MacPherlin Omagbemi (24',42',66'), 1-4 Joseph Pereira (40').

Note-1: While the chaos at Mohun Bagan spilled over onto the pitch, the club remains in the news, with some good and some not so good news...
The good news for Bagan fans first, Brazilian star Jose Barreto will remain another season with the green-maroon outfit! Last night the Brazilian put pen to paper to extend his contract for another season, meaning Barreto will be back in Calcutta in July. This ends speculations that Barreto had had initial talks with East Bengal to make a shift across to the city rivals.
Also Bagan are trying to sign talented Tollygunge duo, striker Ashim Biswas and midfielder Mehtab Hussain. While Hussain has taken an advance from Tollygunge, so is likely to stay with them, Ashim might make the move to Bagan.
Meanwhile Bagan has been send a letter from the AIFF's Players' Status Committee to clear the dues of Nigerian striker Abdullatif Seriki. Bagan still maintain, they want to pay the player but have no contact to him.

22. April
7th National League - Bangalore: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited 1-4 Dempo SC - Goals: 0-1 Bijen Singh (16'), 0-2 Jose Luciano (38'), 1-2 Dayanand (49'), 1-3,1-4 Levy Coelho (77',90+').
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited catastrophic run in this seasons National League continued into their last home match, as they lost 1-4 against Dempo SC at the Bangalore Football Stadium. Bijen Singh opened the scoring for Dempo's in the 16.minute, with the lead doubled by Brazilian Jose Luciano in the 38.minute through a header. At the beginning of the second half it looked as if HAL would get back into the match, as they got a penalty in the 49.minute after Indian under-23 international Ishfaq Ahmed was fouled. Dayanand made no mistake and Ishfaq then had chances to equalise but Dempo regrouped with substitute striker Levy Coelho scoring a brace for the big win.

Note-1: It's decision time in the 2.Division National League in Delhi from tomorrow, when the four finalists play out the two teams, which will gain promotion to the National League, replacing relegated Bangalore sides HAL and ITI. All four teams are capable of making it through but special attention will be on Calcutta's Mohammedan Sporting Club, one of the most successful clubs in India but since the start of the National League have not made it into the Premier Division.
The schedule of the Final Round was changed today, as a draw of lots determined the fixtures, a directive from the AIFF. Also the AIFF had told the organisers the Delhi Soccer Association to hold the final matches simultanously, not to allow any chances of match fixing. So the final day match Mohammedan Sporting Club Vs State Bank of Travancore will be held at the Nehru Stadium, if the ground is available, otherwise the match would have to be shifted to the Chhatrasaal stadium, in North Delhi.
All matches start at 16.15 h. The tickets have been priced at Rs. 5, while school children can enter the ground free with prove through their identity cards.

Note-2: Though it is still not clear when the postponed Asian Women's Championships will be held in Thailand, India is continuing to prepare it's team with a third camp at the SAI Eastern Centre, Calcutta from May 2 to 15. The Asian Women's Championships were postponed due to the SARS virus outbreak.

Note-3: The inter-club transfer of footballers of affiliated units of All-Manipur Football Association will be on from May 8 to 15. The AMFA football development programmes for under-12 and under-14 boys will begin in May in Imphal, Thoubal, Sadar Hills, Kakching, Bishenpur and Chandel districts.

21. April
Note-1: What a week for Asia's oldest football club, Mohun Bagan. Last Tuesday Bagan fired their coach Subrata Bhattacharjee and since then anarchie and chaos seems to have broken out at the club and around it...
Subrata was fired for instigating players not to play until their salary dues were met by the club. Subrata has denied this and is now even seeking legal help, asking the club to either rephrase the sack letter or be dragged to the court.
The club has told players not to talk to the press, while speculations are making the round who had informed the club secretary Anjan Mitra about Subrata's advice or whatever you call it to the players. The names of Baichung Bhutia and Jose Barreto have made the round, with Baichung denying the charge of having a hand in the sacking of the coach.
Meanwhile the club itself is facing internal trouble. Since 1990 no elections for office bearers have been held and the club adminisrators are being called dictators by the opposition, which seems to be gaining in strength with Subrata now also seeking their support.
And the current chaos is also being monitored by Bagan joint-venture partner and sponsor, the United Breweries. The UB Group has spend an estimated Rs. 16,5 million on this seasons budget and so far has taken no decision but if the situation prevails, the UB Group might take some action, which might not be in Mohun Bagan's interest. One major concern for the UB Group is that the Mohun Bagan McDowell's Pvt Ltd company has still not been incorporated, due to a court case by opposition within the club members.
So lets see what happens in the coming week...

Note-2: For the National League decider on Friday in Calcutta between the league's two top teams, East Bengal and Vasco SC, the AIFF has decided to bring in foreign referees to officiate. Rungklay Mongkol and Hanlumyaung Panya, two FIFA referees from Thailand will supervise the tie scheduled to be played at the Saltlake Stadium.

Note-3: Former international Shyam Thapa has been appointed Director of Coaching of the new Mohun Bagan Football Academy in Durgapur.

19. April
2004 Pre-Olympic Qualifiers - Asia Round 1 - Goa: INDIA 1-0 Turkmenistan - Goal: 1-0 Ishfaq Ahmed (82').
At Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, a gem of a goal from the boots of Ishfaq Ahmed saw India get the better of Turkmenistan but the visitors made it to the next round of the Pre-Olympic on aggregate. Eight minutes from close, substitute striker Ishfaq Ahmed rose from obscurity to score what both coaches said was "a wonderful goal" but Turkmenistan's 2-0 win over India at home meant India's win today counted for little. Turkmenistan earned the right to challenge Malaysia in the next round after scrapping through 2-1 on aggregate. "It was a horror win," India's outspoken British coach Stephen Constantine told reporters after the encounter. "We had our chances to nail them down but ultimately it was the 93.minute penalty (awarded against India in Turkmenistan) that made the difference. I think the boys did pretty good, especially in the second session," the coach said. His counterpart Rovshan Muhadov, speaking through an interpreter, was more forthcoming. "India won the battle but we won the war," he said tongue-firmly-in-cheek. "We had our moments but the humidity here affected our game. You could see the boys were not really at their best after changing over," he mused. For majority of the match, India seemed to be the better of the two, particularly after the change of ends when the weather and India's urgency troubled Turkmenistan. But what was missing was the final pass that so often translates a good move into a goal. The absence of creativity, both in the midfield and attack, was also tantalisingly felt. Tomba Singh and Jatin Singh Bisht - both of Salgaocar - were the ones who called the shots, that showed India have indeed discovered players who play with carefree abandon and are still highly effective. Both created the extra space in the defence and created the extra flutter with their quiet confidence on the ball. Skipper Satish Bharti and Arun Malhotra formed a fine centre-back pairing but it was the strikeforce that failed to rise to the occasion. Striker Ashim Biswas, who has off-late shown a lot of promise, was found wanting while Alex Ambrose was not in his elements prompting coach Stephen Constantine to go in for a substitution. Ishfaq Ahmed who was Constantine's choice to replace an ineffective Alex made the Turkmenistan defenders run in circles though, at times, he was guilty of holding on to the ball. His goal in the 82.minute - an on the run left footer from just outside the danger zone - was a gem but two minutes later he could and should have scored the second. After being fed on the platter by Ashim Biswas and with only the Turkmenistan keeper Matus Pavel at his mercy, all that the HAL sharpshooter did was shoot straight into the waiting hands, much to the dismay of the Indian brigade. In-between Dipankar Roy found his in-stepper kiss the side-post and sail out of play while Ishfaq Ahmed's floater in the goalmouth saw Jatin Singh Bisht and Ashim Biswas a trifle too slow to react. Except for playing five menacing-looking defenders, who hastily cleared everything in sight, Turkmenistan did nothing worthwhile. Evidently, there was little aerial threat for the six-footers but they appeared uncomfortable when the Indian strikers gave them glimpses of their sublime individual skills. Much against the run of play, it was Turkmenistan who had the first clear look at the goal. Twenty minutes from the start, Zemskov Yewgenity grabbed a ball from Arun Malhotra, worked his way down the right flank and essayed the ball in the Indian goalmouth where no one could connect with Indian rearguard nowhere to be seen. That was the only time the Indian citadel looked under threat and all that goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee got was some goalkeeping practice. Yes, he was stretched once but the assistant referee had his flag up signaling off-side.

18. April
The Indian under-23 national team face a 'do or die' battle against Turkmenistan tomorrow, when the two sides meet for the return-leg of the Pre-Olympic Asian qualifiers match at the Nehru Stadium, Goa. Having lost 0-2 in the away match, India need to win by at least three goal margin in order to advance further in the next round where they would meet Malaysia. The Indian coach Stephen Constantine said: "We will field the same team that played last. Crowd support will also play vital role in our success," he said.

16. April
Note-1: The inaugural ASEAN Club Championship will kick-off in July this year with a total of 12 teams battling for honours. A team from India has also been invited to participate in the tournament which will be held in Indonesia from July 13 to 26. The ASEAN Club Championship, organised by the Asean Football Federation, will be staged in two cities in Indonesia - Jakarta and Surabaya, with two groups each based in at each location. Under the tournament regulations, Indonesia as hosts is allowed to field two teams.
The Indian club champions, likely East Bengal, who have been named at the draw, will face tough competition in Group D, which will be played in Jakarta. They will face Asian Champions League semifinalists, BEC Tero Sasana of Thailand and Negros Occidental FC from the Philippines. Tero Sasana are one of the hot favourites to lift the crown, after their strong show on the bigger Asian stage. The Indian club would be expected to at least finish second and move into the quarterfinals. The matches are scheduled as follows, East Bengal face Tero Sasana on July 14 and Negros Occidental FC two days later on July 16. The finals are scheduled for July 26 with the winner taking home USD 50,000.

Note-2: Football in North-Eastern India will be soon getting a major boast!!!
A Telegraph Guwahati report: In a path-breaking initiative, the department for Development of Northeastern Region (DONER), the Sports Authority of India and the AIFF have joined hands to promote football in the Northeast in a big way.
DONER is pumping in over Rs 1,3 million for the exclusive under-23 meet it will host from May 16 in Guwahati in association with the SAI and AIFF, which are providing "logistical and technical support". The tournament is in memory of Talimeren Ao, the nation's first Olympic football captain.
Guwahati has been awarded the right to host the 14-day league-cum-knockout meet at a high-level meeting held in Guwahati today. However, the city will forfeit its hosting right to Imphal, the original choice, if it fails to send the confirmation with details of how to organise the meet to SAI within a week. The representatives from Manipur made a strong case to host the meet, while Assam was dithering to accept the offer. Had it not been for AIFF vice-president P Atua Mezhur, who argued that Guwahati was not only ideally located but should get the right to host it because Ao was from undivided Assam, Imphal would have got the rights.
Apart from the seven Northeastern states, Sikkim and two SAI teams will vie for top honours in this meet, which has taken extra care to provide the best of facilities - kit, transportation, food and lodging - in Guwahati. To arouse interest among the players and the state units, SAI is contemplating selecting around 35 boys in the age-group of 18-21 and putting them up at its proposed centre for excellence (football) in Imphal and fielding them in various invitational meets in India and abroad. The organisers have decided to invite top national clubs, PSUs and corporate houses to scout talent from the region.
North Eastern Council's SK Malik, director manpower development, who represented DONER, SAI secretary K Narasimha, SAI executive director (team's wing) MP Ganesh, SAI deputy director Manmeet Singh Goindi, AIFF's Mezhur, and representatives of AIFFs Northeast units participated at the meeting which lasted for over three hours. Guwahati SAI official Subhas Basumatary and director of sports Pradeep Hazarika were also present. While DONER is funding the meet, NEC will scout for sponsors along with the local organisers - Assam FA and Dispur - for cash prizes to the top three finalists and individual players.
"We will do everything possible to host the meet in a befitting manner. Football, after all, is very popular in the region. This is the first time that a meet of this kind is being organised anywhere in India with so many organisations working towards a common goal," Narasimha said. However, the organisers said the meet could become an annual feature if they can make a successful start.
A good step for the development of football in Northeast India!!!

15. April
Note-1: Mohun Bagan AC today sacked their coach Subrata Bhattacharjee for his so-called "anti-football" activities, in a move which did not come unexpected but the timing, two rounds before the end of the NFL, was surprising.
At a press conference in the Bagan club tent, Bagan secretary, Anjan Mitra said: "I have taken the decision using my secretarial powers after investigating into allegations of Subrata's anti-football actvities."
The secretary had been in touch with some senior players and was informed that the coach had told the players not to play until their dues were met by the club. Though officially it was always said that none of the players had any problems, it is not a secret that Subrata was not liked much by some of his players, as they thought he had no proper understanding of the game...
Mr Mitra informed that so far no new coach had been finalised but rumours say that former Bagan player Prasanta Banerjee might be a candidate as Bagan coach for the new season. Further this means that the assistant coaches Bidesh Bose and Shyamal Banerjee would be asked to take temporary charge of the team for the last couple of NFL matches and if not, a senior player would be asked to help out.
But what lead to this situation? This had not been a one-off event, as Subrata has been at loggerhead with some of the Bagan officials for month's now, which had reached it's peak earlier this month.
Subrata alleged that certain Mohun Bagan officials had been working to remove him for the past one month. He went further to mention that some journalists even played a role in it. Three of the four officials, who are signatories in club accounts, refused to sign cheques unless the club sacked him. "I can assure you the players will get their due amounts within two or three days," Kesto Saha, the club treasurer, said. He, however, denied Subrata's allegations. He also said it was a fact that he, Balaram Chowdhury and Om Jhunjhunwala had in the past expressed their unhappiness over certain actions of Subrata, but they were not the signatories of cheques as far as football was concerned. The entire football budget is being controlled by Anjan Mitra and TR Ghosh.
So this might not be the end of the Bagan-Subrata saga, which had latest over 17 years...

Note-2: The Turkmenistan under-23 national team yesterday arrived in India, in Delhi on their way to the match venue, Goa. The team is nearly the same squad, which had faced India at the Busan Asian Games but India are a totally transformed side, without most of the players that had faced Turkmenistan six month's ago.
All 18 players in the team are professionals, with three of the youngsters playing in the Ukraine with more thought to be on the move to teams in Russia and the Ukraine.
In a test match today, Turkmenistan beat Shastri Club, Delhi 3-0.
The Turkmenistan Team: Azat Muhadov (Captain), Eldar Aliev, Hasmagamed Amayev, Yagmymyrat Annamyradov, Nazar Bayramov, Shohrat Durdiyev, Alik Haydarov, Rasif Kerimov, Vyacheslav Krendelev, Pavel Matus, Charyar Meredov, Mekan Nasyrov, Artyem Nikitenko, Begli Nurmuradov, Guvanchmuhamed Ovekov, Guvanch Rejepow, Muhammet Saparow, Yewgeniy Zemskov. Chief Coach: Rovshan Muhadov. Coaches: Aman Meredov, Aleksandr Klimenko.

Note-3: The final Round of the 2.Division will be held from April 23 to 29 in the capital Delhi. While Calcutta's Mohammedan Sporting Club continue their quest to get into the National League, they will be joined by former NFL teams Air-India, Mumbai and State Bank of Travancore, Thiruvananthapuram plus Sporting Clube de Goa. The matches will be held at the Ambedkar Stadium. Only on the last day, the final round of matches will be held simultaniously at the Ambedkar Stadium and Nehru Stadium, to avoid any chances of match fixing for the promotion spots...

14. April
7th National League - Goa: Salgaocar SC 5-0 Mahindra United - Goals: 1-0 Tomba Singh (22'), 2-0 Sunday Seah (33'), 3-0 Climax Lawrence (67'), 4-0,5-0 Sebastiao Endro (75',83').
Football can be intriguing at times. The Mahindra United Vs Salgaocar SC battle at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, was one such obvious example. Infront of a handful of spectators - mostly die-hard Salgaocar faithfuls - Salgaocar scored a rollicking 5-0 win over Mahindra United, in what was predicted as a needle contest. And all this happened, at a time when Mahindra United were supposedly high on confidence, thanks to their 2-0 win over East Bengal, just a few days ago and Salgaocar not exactly at their awesome best.
"I never expected to win by such a big margin," Salgaocar coach Savio Madeira admitted after his side made Mahindra United's star-footballers look like novices on the field. Goals from Tomba Singh (22.), Sunday Seah (33.), Climax Lawrence (67.) and a brace from substitute striker Sebastiao Endro (75.,83.) were the highlights of an unexpected win in the National League. The win enabled Salgaocar remain in the hunt for the second spot while the loss meant Mahindra United's slim hopes of what the management says as "decent finish" were all but over. Salgaocar led 2-0 at the breather but the advantage could well have been in Mahindra's favour had striker Mongba Aby Samson showed a little more creativity infront of the goal. The Mumbai brigade held the initiative at the start and came close to scoring twice in the first 12 minutes, but on both the ocassions Samson was found wanting. At first the burly built striker shot wide off the mark after being fed on the platter by Debjit Ghosh while a minute later shot into the waiting hands of Salgaocar goalkeeper Kalyan Chaubey. Once Salgaocar got their eye in, there was no looking back. And there was just one apparent winner all the way - Salgaocar. A defensive lapse from Odartey Lawson in the 22.minute allowed Tomba Singh to head in the first goal while another defensive lapse from the same defender saw Sunday Seah finish off a Dharamjit Singh cross in style. With two goals in their pocket, Salgaocar had their tails up. And they never ever let the initiative slip, though Mahindra had their fair share of chances in between. That the highly-rated Brazilian Ednei Damasio and Samson missed gilt-edge chances is another story. After the change of ends, Climax Lawrence, scored his first goal and his team's third while subsitute striker Sebastiao Endro - surprisingly preferred over International Alex Ambrose - hammered the final two, in quick succession. Delhi referee Krishan Avatar promptly issued marching orders to Mahindra's Peter Siddique and Salgaocar's Samson Singh for exchanging a few blows during play.
SALGAOCAR: Kalyan Chaubey, Manitombi Singh, Prashant Jaggi, Roberto Fernandes, Bello Rasaq, Tomba Singh, Jatin Singh Bisht (Bungo Singh), Climax Lawrence, Dharamjit Singh, Samson Singh, Sunday Seah (Sebastiao Endro).
MAHINDRA: Naseem Akhtar, Anthony Pereira, Tapan Ghosh, Peter Siddique, Debjit Ghosh (RC Prakash), Odartey Lawson, Noushad Pari (Jinto Jose), James Singh, Khalid Jamil (Abhishek Yadav), Mongba Aby Samson, Ednei Jose Damasio.

7th National League - Calcutta: Tollygunge Agragami 0-2 Mohun Bagan AC - Goals: 0-1 Jose Barreto (6'), 0-2 Sunil Chetri (22').
Mohun Bagan returned to winning ways with a 2-0 victory against Calcutta rivals Tollygunge Agragami in a National League match at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. Brazilian Jose Barreto's shot opened the score in the 6.minute for Bagan. Youngster Sunil Chetri doubled the lead in the 22.minute, after beating four defenders and the Tollygunge keeper to score.
TOLLYGUNGE: Shibram Dey, Isiaka Awoyemi, Debkumar Sashmal, Sujit Neogi, Mehtab Hussain (Laltu Das), Sandip Das, Moses Owira, Sujay Dutta, Biswarup Bisu (Kabijit Khotel), Ashim Biswas, Akeem Abul Alem.
MOHUN BAGAN: Bibash Ghosh, Palash Karmakar, Dulal Biswas, Yakubu, Lolendra Singh; Sheikh Sanjib (Jayanta Sen), Basudeb Mondal (Ranjan Dey), Jose Barreto (Ajoy Singh), Renedy Singh, Baichung Bhutia, Sunil Chetri.

7th National League - Bangalore: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited 1-2 Churchill Brothers SC - Goals: 1-0 Ishfaq Ahmed (25'), 1-1,1-2 Yakubu Yusif (35',37').
Having been relegated after the record 0-8 defeat against Vasco, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited were playing for pride in the National Leagueagainst another Goan outfit Churchill Brothers but failed loosing 1-2 at the near empty Bangalore Football Stadium. Only the die hard HAL fans had come to support their team and they were not disappointed as HAL took the lead in the 25.minute through Indian under-23 international Ishfaq Ahmed. Before the goal HAL had had further chances but after the goal, the defence got complacent and Churchill Brothers Ghanian sharp-shooter Yakubu Yusif got into action. In the space of a couple of minutes Yusif turned the deficit into a lead, as he equalised in the 35.minute beating HAL defender Obinna Winners in a sprint and then scoring past goalie Mark Mascarenhas. Yakubu shot Churchill into the lead and the match winner just two minutes later.

13. April
7th National League - Calcutta: East Bengal Club 3-0 Indian Bank - Goals: 1-0,3-0 Mike Okoro (16',85'), 2-0 Douglas da Silva (53').
East Bengal's quest to the title in the National League is back on track, after a 3-0 victory against Indian Bank at the Saltlake Stadium, Calcutta. East Bengal opened the scoring in the 15.minute through a powerful right-footer from Mike Okoro, after he had received a high ball from Chandan Das. East Bengal doubled the lead seven minutes into the second half, as Brazilian Douglas da Silva curled a freekick into the Indian Bank goal, passed keeper Sebastian Netto. Five minutes from time Okoro made no mistake to score his second goal and his teams third. Now East Bengal need just one point to from their last two matches to win the league, interestingly they now face second-placed Vasco at home on April 25.
EAST BENGAL: Sangram Mukherjee, Surya Bikash Chakraborty, Suley Musah, Deepak Mondal, M Suresh, Sasthi Duley (Dipankar Roy), Malswam Tulunga, Chandan Das (Tushar Rakshit), Douglas de Silva, Subhash Chakraborty (S Venkatesh), Mike Okoro.
INDIAN BANK: Sebastian Netto, J Anandarajan, Anthony Noel, DC Nathaniel, S Sudhakar, VK Harish, J Anandavasan, Mohammed Quizar (Mohammed Bin Hassan), Ravi Babu, KG Joseph, Stanley Festus (Basheer Ahmed).

7th National League - Goa: Vasco SC 5-0 Indian Telephone Industries - Goals: 1-0,2-0,5-0 Rui Wanderley Weis (20',40',88'), 3-0 Angelo Jose Gomes (57'), 4-0 Jules Alberto (59').
Vasco trashed Indian Telephone Industries 5-0 in a National League match at the Nehru Stadium, Margao to stay in theoretical contention for the NFL title.

7th National League - Ludhiana: JCT Mills 1-3 Dempo SC - Goals: 0-1 Ratan Singh (28'), 1-1 Hardip Singh Gill (40'), 1-2 EB Channa (65'), 1-3 Bijen Singh (71').
JCT Mills good run in the National League was ended by a 1-3 home defeat at the hands of Dempo SC at the Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana. Dempo controlled the match and in the 28.minute defender Ratan Singh opened the score with a powerful shot into the far corner of the net. JCT equalised five minutes from halftime as Hardip Singh Gill lobbed the ball over goalie Francis Fernandes. But in the second half Dempo scored two quick goals to settle the match. First Dempo's Sri Lankan striker EB Channa shot his team into the lead in the 65.minute, while Bijen Singh decided the match in the 71.minute.

12. April
Over the last couple of weeks a lot of infos on the coming 2003/04 season has come out, often rumours or just unconfirmed news. We at indianfootball.com now look at what likely lies ahead in the coming season but we start at the end of this season.
MAY: finals of the U21 Nationals (Balia, Uttar Pradesh); U19 National League - simultaniously in Calcutta and Goa (May 15-30)
JULY: IFA-Shield in early July; East Bengal likely to represent India in the inaugural ASEAN Club Championships
AUGUST: Federation Cup - Calcutta
SEPTEMBER: India defend their LG Cup title in Vietnam
OCTOBER: all-India tournaments
NOVEMBER: India play in the AFRO-ASIAN GAMES, start of the National League (November 15 - likely until end-March)
APRIL 2004: Santosh Trophy (Venue: likely Calcutta, otherwise could be Kerala); if time allows: Federation Cup from this season held late

Note-1: The IFA organised Calcutta Women's Football League will start, this season, on April 28. All top teams of last season have prepared, but the financial involvement of the top clubs, this year is said to be less.

Note-2: The Calcutta Sports Journalists' Club has named East Bengal midfielder/striker Alvito D'Cunha as the Footballer of the Year, while Tollygunge's Ashim Biswas has been named Primising Sportsperson of the year.

11. April
Note-1: Mohun Bagan seem to call for international trouble. Mohun Bagan have received a letter from the FIFA Players Status committee through the AIFF, who have taken up the case of Nigerian Isa Musah Eroje and have asked the club to clear his dues. This is the second such incidence involving Mohun Bagan, as earlier Abdullatif Seriki hadn't been fully paid last season. According to the contract, Eroje was supposed to get USD 21.000 but he had only been paid USD 9.500 by Mohun Bagan. Bagan secretary Anajan Mitra, admitted that he had received a letter from FIFA, but said that since Eroje did not attend training sessions for three months, the club withheld his payment for "indiscipline". On why the club hadn't taken any disciplinary measure, Mr Mitra said the club was lenient with him in his interest, but was now contemplating issuing a show-cause notice. This is a clear breach of contract. On Seriki Mr. Mitra said, he hadn't been paid as he cannot be traced. Quite funny, as Seriki was on loan to Hindustan Club, Delhi from Mohammedan Sporting Club.

Note-2: The Statesman reports on the Goa FA farcas moving to the courts.
Former Goa FA secretary, Agnelo Alcasoas, who was ousted in controversial circumstances and debarred from holding any post in the GFA after being charged with "willful default and willful fraud" over the GFA's finances, has filed a civil case in Goa with the Judicial Magistrate First Class against the GFA and six others including Vinod Parkkot, chairman of the ad hoc committee and also Vasco SC president, and Vilas Sardessai, a former vice-president of the AIFF who chaired the controversial AGM which expelled Alcasoas.
The case will come up for hearing on 17 April in Panaji and Mr Alcasoas is praying for temporary injunction, appointment of receiver to conduct the elections and other reliefs.
Mr Alcasoas told the Statesman that he has approached the court to clear his name, claiming that he had been made a scapegoat for political reasons by the "old guard" which wants to cling to power at all costs. In his application the former secretary has claimed that the defendants had fraudulently convened the AGM on 27 October last year during which they had "further debarred him from holding any office in the GFA." Mr Alcasoas has claimed that the 27 October AGM was null and void as it was called without proper authorisation. He also claimed that the previous meeting on 21 July had properly concluded and was not adjourned at all, which the defendants made it out to be to justify the holding of the next meeting. He also claimed that the GFA has refused to give him a copy of the minutes of both the meetings and after 73 days they informed him that he was not entitled to have a copy of the minutes although no reasons were stated. Mr Alcasoas has alleged that the minutes of the meetings may have been manipulated.
The former secretary who is also patron of the first division Velsao-Pale FC, said the move to tarnish his image smacks of political vendetta as he is perceived to be close to Mickey Pacheco, currently sports minister in the BJP coalition government, who is a bitter political rival of former GFA president, Joaquim Alemao, who is president of Churchill Bros.

Note-3: Churchill Brother SC Ghanian striker, Yakubu Yusif has been slapped with a fine of Rs 5.000 by the the disciplinary committee of the AIFF, for his unsporting behaviour in the Salgaocar-Churchill Bros match in the ongoing National League. Yakubu was involved in a confrontation with Salgaocar keeper Kalyan Chaubey after the match, following which the former threatened to assault the latter after forcing his way into the Salgaocar dressing room. The fine however does not include any suspension.

10. April
indianfootball.com, the Premier Website on Indian football, celebrates its 5th anniversary today!
The Website was launched on April 10, 1998 and today completes five years in service for our visitors/users.
We have come a long way since our start and still today we are the only website, which tries to cover as much as possible on Indian football, though it is often not easy but we try our best...

7th National League - Goa: Churchill Brothers SC 1-0 Tollygunge Agragami - Goal: 1-0 Yakubu Yusif (69').
Churchill Brothers Ghanaian sharpshooter Yakubu Yusif took his individual goal tally to 15 as Churchill Brothers huffed and puffed their way to a solitary goal win over Tollygunge Agragami in the National League, at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda. After some near close shaves, the Tollygunge Agragami citadel crumbled in the 69.minute of play when Yakubu, highest scorer of last edition's NFL, beautifully controlled a Noel Wilson centre to slam past a halpess looking Tollygunge goalkeeper Arindam Ghosh. Churchill Bros should have won by a handsome margin but their players seemed to have left their shooting boots at home resulting in unimaginative striking. Tollygunge keeper Arindam Ghosh also rescued his team on several ocassions. Churchill first had a clear look at the rival goal in the 20th minute of play after Roque Baretto fed medio Aqueel Ansari on the platter but the former International ended shooting straight into the waiting hands of the keeper, even as the Churchill brigade watched in disbelief. Aqueel was replaced by Zaheer Abbas Hamza almost immediately. Towards the fag end of the first session, Rocky Baretto blasted wide with only the goalkeeper at his mercy. However, it was Tollygunge who first showed the urgency to find the net. Had Rajesh Meetei not showed presence of mind in keeping out a fierce Moses Owira flick, with Churchill goalkeeper Edward Ansah nowhere to be seen, the math story would well have been different. Ratan Singh, Yakubu Yusif and Rocky Baretto took turns in missing chances - sometimes from hand-shaking distance - while Tollygunge defender Debkumar Sashmal once denied Yakubu Yusif with a goal-line clearance. Churchill Bros' rock-solid defender Mahesh Gawli was adjudged the man of the match. The stopper-back shouldered the responsibilities well in the absence of Ghanaian defender Osuman Hussein. Churchill coach Marcus Pacheco preferred Ghanaian striker Benjamin Ansah to Osuman Hussein with Yakubu Yusif and goalkeeper Edward Ansah being the other two foreign choices.

Note-1: The thrice-postponed 9th South Asian Federation Games have been finally cancelled. Pakistan expressed their inability to host the regional multi-event competition due to numerous circumstances. The executive council meeting of the South Asian Sports Federation, which was held at Rawalpindi, accepted Pakistan's decision. The 10th edition of the SAF Games will be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2005.
"We do not know when the political situation is going to improve internationally. That is the reason why Pakistan suggested the cancellation," Pakistan Olympic Association president Wajid Ali Shah said.
The pullout of the Indian contingent had not been a consideration, as IOA president Kalmadi was praised by his Pakistani counterpart in trying to convince the Indian government to reconsider its decision.
The SASF meeting, which was called to decide on the future of the jinxed Games, originally scheduled to be held in 2001, was attended by representatives of only two of the seven-member SAARC countries besides Pakistan - Nepal and Sri Lanka.

9. April
7th National League - Mumbai: Mahindra United 2-0 East Bengal Club - Goals: 1-0 Mongba Aby Samson (33'), 2-0 James Singh (66').
Mahindra United scored a shock 2-0 victory against National League leaders East Bengal at the Cooperage Ground, Mumbai. For East Bengal it was it's second successive defeat of this NFL campaign and the second overall defeat. Mahindra United went ahead through a superb free kick by winger Mongba Aby Samson's from the top of the box in the 33.minute and doubled the lead in the 66.minute when medio James Singh was scored with a left footer off Samson's cross from the left. But the final score does not suggest that Mahindra's India keeper Naseem Akhtar had an exceptional match in goal denying East Bengal on numerous occasions from scoring.

7th National League - Goa: Vasco SC 8-0 Hindustan Aeronautics Limited - Goals: 1-0,2-0 Marcos Pereira (4',15'), 3-0,5-0,6-0,7-0 Agnelo Jose Gomes (32',55',56',58'), 4-0 Menino Fernandes (35'), 8-0 Rui Wanderlei Weis (82').
At Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, Vasco Sports Club hammered eight past a hapless looking Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to break a National League record that stood since its inception, seven years ago. Scoring four times in each session, Vasco won by a record 8-0 margin, something that even their most ardent of supporters could not have asked for. Agnelo Gomes (4), Marcos Pereira (2), Rui Wanderlei Weis and Menino Fernandes were the goal-getters for Vasco, who are aiming for the second spot behind Calcutta giants East Bengal.
"Its a real big win," admits Vasco coach Derrick Pereira, before continuing, "the game-plan was simple, just convert the chances that come you way. Our convertibility rate was simply too good today."
Vasco's Brazilian sharpshooter Marcos Pereira struck two goals, early in the match to become the leading scorer in the National League with 16 goals in his kitty. While Marcos was in devastating form, it was diminutive Agnelo Gomes who grabbed honours from right under everyones nose. A late inclusion in the starting line-up, Agnelo mesmerised the HAL defenders with his crafty game and made life difficult for rival goalkeeper Mark Mascarenhas. After the change of ends, he scored a hattrick in just 11 minutes, adding to the one he had scored in the first session. In-between Menino Fernandes and Brazilian Rui Wanderlei Weis also added their names to the scoresheet. If not for some lofty goalkeeping by Mark Mascarenhas under the HAL goal, the scoreline would have been much more embarassing, than it actually is. The HAL defence seemed non-existant with the defenders caving in at the slightest of pressure. Smart cookies that they are, Vasco relished every opportunity and pounced on everything they could lay their hands nay legs and heads on.
VASCO: Rogerio Ramos, Selwyn Fernandes, Franky Barretto, Sanjay Parte, Sushanth Mathew (Santa Singh), Jules Alberto, Menino Fernandes, Rui Wanderlei Weis, Marcos Pereira, Agnelo Jose Gomes (Daniel Colaco).
HAL: Mark Mascarenhas, Gregory Clarke, Mehraj Din Wadoo, Obinna Winners, HP Abhijeet, Rajendra Prasad (Prahlad Singh Rawat), Santosh Kiran (Satish Kumar), Jagadish Kumar (Kenneth Onu), Xavier Vijayakumar, Sunil Kumar, Dayanand.

7th National League - Ludhiana: JCT Mills 1-0 Mohun Bagan AC - Goal: 1-0 Jo Paul Ancheri (50').
JCT Mills continued their successful National League campaign with a 1-0 victory against current NFL title holders Mohun Bagan at the Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana. Indian international Jo Paul Ancheri scored the winner in the 50.minute, when he headed in a Ram Pal freekick. Both sides had further chances in the match but just didn't or couldn't score.

7th National League - Bangalore: Indian Telephone Industries 0-3 Salgaocar SC - Goals: 0-1 Jatin Singh Bisht (73'), 0-2 Climax Lawrence (80'), 0-3 Dharamjit Singh (90+').
Salgaocar remained in the hunt for the second-place finish in the National League, as they beat relegated Indian Telephone Industries 3-0 away at the Bangalore Football Stadium. Jatin Singh Bisht, Climax Lawrence and Dharamjit Singh scored the goals for the Goans, who only were able to score in the last 17 minutes, as the ITI defence withstood the pressure but especially goalkeeper Gumpe Rime showed his class, blocking the Salgaocar attacks on a number of occasions.
ITI: Gumpe Rime, Tejinder Kumar, AS Firoze, Sunil Kumar, CK Jiteesh (V Jaikar), KV Dhanesh, Raghuveer Singh, James Singh, J Muralidharan (Jiten Rai), Mohammed Najeeb, Dipankar Chatterjee (Louis Nickson).
SALGAOCAR: Kalyan Chaubey, Manitombi Singh (Micky Fernandes), Covan Lawrence, Roberto Fernandes, Bello Rasaq, Tomba Singh, Jatin Singh Bisht, Climax Lawrence, Dharamjit Singh, Samson Singh (Jose Esteves), Alex Ambrose (Bungo Singh).

8. April
7th National League - Goa: Dempo SC 5-1 Indian Bank - Goals: 1-0 Clifford Miranda (15'), 1-1 VK Harish (18'), 2-1 Bijen Singh (29'), 3-1,5-1 Jose Colaco (50',90'), 4-1 EB Channa (52').
The often used football cliche about it being a 'game of two halves' was never more appropriate than in Dempo SC's 5-1 win over Indian Bank, Chennai as the National League resumed after a month-long wait, at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda. What was predicted as a needle-contest between two sides struggling to get their toe-hold in the 12-team high-profile National League, suddenly, turned out to be a no-contest as Dempo changed gears, after the change of ends. However, it was not the same like that initially as Indian Bank looked to upset the Dempo applecart, infront of their home crowd. After a battling first-half performance against a spirited Dempo side, Indian Bank capitulated after the break and conceded two goals in three minutes at the start and one at the fag end of the match. Armando showed faith in TFA protege Clifford Miranda, starting with the promising striker alongside Sri Lankan sharpshooter EB Channa. And Clifford Miranda did not disappoint striking home the first goal in the 16.minute of play. Indian Bank medio VK Harish did not allow the match to slip out of their grasp as he settled scores with a gem of a goal but once man of the match Bijen Singh gave Dempo the lead in the 29.minute of play, there was simply no way out for Indian Bank. Dempo midfielder Jose Colaco capitalised on a defensive lapse to put his team 3-1 ahead, no sooner the referee signalled start of play after the change of ends while Sri Lankan EB Channa scored his first and his team's fourth, almost immediately. Jose Colaco hammered the final nail in Indian Bank's coffin, in the dying seconds of the match. Dempo rode on some imaginative play from its midfield where veteran Mario Soares, Jose Colaco, Lazarus Fernandes and Dominic Noronha stood out. In sharp contrast, Indian Bank's midfield, resembled a sinking ship without its captain. To be fair, Indian Bank missed the services of their Sri Lankan recruits - Jayasuriya and Imran Mohammed - both of whom are reportedly yet to report after doing National duty for Sri Lanka in the Asian Cup. "The first half was very tough but we changed our tempo in the second and increased our speed," Dempo coach Armando Colaco told reporters after the match. "Its nice to have that winning feeling," he murmured, still sounding a wee bit excited. Armando has reasons to be excited. It was Dempo's first win in as many as 11 matches. With this win, Dempo jumped two spots, clinging to the sixth spot with 26 points. Indian Bank have have 20 points and are just ahead of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Indian Telephone Industries.
DEMPO: Francis Fernandes, Sameer Naik, Stanley Colaco, Dominic Noronha, Melwyn Rodrigues (Ratan Singh), Lazarus Fernandes (Johnny D'Cruz), Mario Soares, Jose Colaco, EB Channa (Marcus Carvalho), Clifford Miranda, Bijen Singh.
INDIAN BANK: Sebastian Netto, David Maria Gerald (Bobby Hamilton), Anandarajan, Anthony Noel, DC Nathaniel, VK Harish, J Anandavajan, Noah Rozario, Ravi Babu (Mohammad Quizar), KG Joseph (Stanley Festus), Basheer Ahmed.

Note-1: In a significant move the "on loan" transfer of players has been modified by the AIFF. From the coming season a player transferred on loan will not be able to return to his parent club during the season. Instead the player's loan period will last till the end of the season. With the AIFF pitching in with the new loan clause, clubs who sought the services of players "on loan" from different clubs for a limited period will not be able to use the loan clause to good use.
An example for misuse: East Bengal had two Air-India players from Mumbai on loan for one match of the Calcutta Super Division as they had too many injuries and international call-ups. But on the other side, talented youngsters or other players have been loaned to strengthen teams, even in lower division local leagues across India.
Also the two transfer windows according to FIFA ruling have been finalised. They are between May 15 to 31 and October 15 to 31, with only players who have not been transferred in the first window, having an option to be transferred. The AIFF has also informed that transfers would be permitted only during the two periods.

Note-2: The AIFF has clarified that the women's football in the country is controlled by the AIFF under the guidelines of the AFC and FIFA. The convener of the AIFF women's football committee, S Bhambri, told reporters at a press meet in the Capital that the parent body is doing its best to improve the standard of the game. Bhambri denied all the allegations made by his predecessor, Krishna Singh. A dharna was organised by the followers of Kishna Singh at the Ministry of Sports yesterday for the development of women's football in India. They have formed a parallel body, with former cricketer Kirti Azad as the President.

7. April
Note-1: The sports TV channel, TEN SPORTS, will show a weekly Indian Football Show every Wednesday at 21.00 IST from this Wednesday on, April 9. From the launch of the channel a year ago, TEN SPORTS had said that it would like to show highlights of Indian football, maybe even expanding in the future to broadcast Indian football completely on the sports channel. If I would be asked, the right channel for Indian football, as they have proved in their first year of existance that they can produce sports professionally!

Note-2: The venue for the Final Round of the 2.Division National League will be the capital, New Delhi. The Final Round will be played from April 23 onwards.

Note-3: With focus on the national team and so much news to report, I forgot to mention that talented youngster "Player of Indian Origin" Michael Chopra has been loaned by Newcastle United to first Division outfit Watford FC. And last Saturday Chopra showed what a talented young striker he is. In Watford's 7-4 (no typing mistake) away win at Burnley Chopra scored four of the seven Watford goals last Saturday, he showed his goal scoring skills.
Watford manager Ray Lewington later said, "Michael was marvellous, his finishing was just first class. We got the ball into his feet and he showed just how dangerous he is - he could even have had more!"
So we can expect more from Michael Chopra in the near future at Watford!

6. April
The Final Round finalists of the 2.Division National League have been found. From Group A Air-India and State Bank of Travancore qualified, while Mohammedan Sporting and Sporting Clube de Goa made it from Group B. The venue of the Final Round has not been released so far. To note is that last season NFL-relegated FC Kochin and Punjab Police were nowhere near the final rounds.

2.Division National League - Group A - Thiruvananthapuram: Border Security Force 0-2 Tata Football Academy - Goals: 0-1 Malswama (34'), 0-2 Bimal Pariyar.
BSF came into this game knowing that a 6-0 win would take them through to the final phase of the 2.Division and began the match in a more attacking manner than their normal defensive game. Neither team had a particular advantage over the first half hour but BSF who had only scored 4 goals in their previous 4 matches needed an early goal to have any chance of an unlikely 6 goal win over the talented young TFA team. In the absence of an early goal the BSF hopes faded and TFA began to take control. TFA duly opened the scoring in the 34.minute after showing real class to string together a series of passes around the edge of the box that resulted in Malswama getting free of the large securitymen defence and slotting the ball home comfortably. BSF realising that qualification was unrealistic began to play for pride but was unable to match the quality of football being played by the academy boys who had brought in some of the reserve players for the final match. Midway through the second half Bimal Pariyar smashed in a second goal, having provided for Malswama in the first half, the little man returned the favour to his strike partner Pariyar.

2.Division National League - Group A - Thiruvananthapuram: FC Kochin 2-2 Assam State Electricity Board - Goals: 0-1 PM Anees (43' - own Goal), 1-1 Daniel Bomfa (73'), 1-2 Kishore Das (76'), 2-2 K Bijumon (90').
It was a match for pride between the two bottom placed sides, neither wanted to finish the tournament with a loss. FCK started the brighter of the two boosted by the return of Bomfa up front. The Kochin side were far more creative but poor finishing and a disorganised backline partly due to the suspension of Dileep made it a very open first half. The first clear chance fell to Bomfa who drove his shot past the ASEB reserve keeper and onto the post. Two minutes short of half time Sanjeeva Rongpi easily rounded the normally reliable FCK captain Shafeeq and drilled the ball across the face of the goal into the path of the unfortunate Anees who was unable to prevent himself from burying it into the back of his own net. FCK came out for the second half determined to get back into the game but luck was not on their side particularly when the referee did not spot Bomfa getting hauled back by an ASEB defender while in a potentially goal scoring situation. Perhaps fired up by the injustice, Bomfa then equalised in the 73.minute after taking on one defender Bomfa again showed the high standard of finishing he is capable of. FCK did not stay level for long just 3 minutes later ASEB regained their advantage when Kishore Das was left completely unmarked at the far post, powerfully heading his side back into the lead from a corner. Bomfa and Binoop were at the heart of all of the Kochin moves as they rallied to restore parity and Bomfa won the penalty that was converted comfortably by Bijumon who scored 3 goals from the spot this tournament.

2.Division National League - Group B - Jamshedpur: Mohammedan Sporting Club 0-0 Sporting Clube de Goa - Goals: none.

Note-1: Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) Chairman Agum Gumelar confirmed in a press conference that East Java state Gresik and capital Jakarta have been picked as the official venues of the inaugural 12-team US$ 144,444 ASEAN Club Championship.
Petrokimia Putra and Persita Tangerang, league champions and runner-ups respectively, will spearhead the Indonesian challenge. Nine other champions from the rest of the ASEAN member countries are likely to take part, with another invited team from India completing the field for the tournament that had been pencilled from July 13 to 27.
"Petro will host two groups at its stadium in Gresik (East Java) and the other two groups will be played at the Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta. Persita was supposed to host the matches in Tangerang but the its stadium is not up to standard."
In a format similar to the Tiger Cup, four groups of three teams each will play for two spots to the quarter-finals. The venues for the semifinals and Final have yet to be announced but it is known that Petrokimia or Bung Karno have been earmarked as the leading stadiums to host the last few matches.
Champions of the ASEAN Club Championship will take home US$ 50,000, runners-up $30,000, 3rd place finishers $20,000 while the 4th placed team will receive $10,000.
Interesting to note is that AIFF secretary Colaco had stated yesterday that the AIFF had received no official invitation yet, so likely champions East Bengal could not be confirmed.

Note-2: While others in India are trying to scale down their local leagues to suitable sizes, mostly between six to 10 teams, the IFA (Bengal) at it's governing body meeting decided to expand the Calcutta Super Division from 10 to 12 teams. I fear this will further dilute the league, where only three teams, East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting, have won the championship since 1959.

5. April
2004 Pre-Olympic Qualifiers - Asia Round 1 - Ashkhabad: Turkmenistan 2-0 INDIA - Goals: 1-0 Azad Mohadov (75'), 2-0 Rasif Karimov (90+').
India's under-23 national team lost their away match in the 2004 Pre-Olympic Qualifiers 0-2 against hosts Turkmenistan at the modern Kopetdag Stadium, Ashkhabad. The senario is the same as for the senior side in the Asia Cup qualifiers against North Korea, the under-23 team will have to win at least by two goals to nil to get into extra time in Goa in two weeks and win by a bigger margin to move into Round 2 of the Asian Olympic qualifiers, conceeding no goal, as away goals count one more as per international rules. So a lot of work for national coach Stephen Constantine...
Back to the match and the infos we have been able to get. Turkmenistan scored their goals in the 75.minute through their captain Azad Mohadov and through a penalty in injury time by Karimov. The penalty was caused by a tackle from captain Satish Bharti, which was doubted by the Indian camp, who argued with the referee. In the 75 minutes before that the match had been even and open with chances on both sides.
INDIA: Sangram Mukherjee, Arun Malhotra, Satish Bharti, Vinu Jose, Dipankar Roy, Sukhwinder Singh (Harpreet Singh), Jatin Singh Bisht (Ishfaq Ahmed), Manitombi Singh, Tomba Singh, Asim Biswas, Alex Ambrose (Sheikh Sanjeeb).

2.Division National League - Group A - Thiruvananthapuram: State Bank of Travancore 0-0 Air-India - Goals: none.
A draw was enough to ensure first place for Air India with 11 points. SBT should finish runner up with 10 points but in the unlikely event of BSF beating TFA tomorrow by 6 goals then SBT will lose out to BSF.
Air India have gone about winning this Group in a very professional manner and tonight was no exception. The strong Airmen defence was very difficult to break down and the efforts that SBT did manage to get on target were dealt with superbly by AIs reliable keeper Rajat Guha.
SBT badly missed Asif Saheer up front whose sublime skill might have been what was needed to open up Air India's excellent central defensive pairing of Osberne D'Souza and Noushad Moosa. In the first half Sylvester Ignatius provoked the save of the tournament when he finally managed to loose his marker and guided a free header from 6 yards out down towards the bottom left hand corner of Guha's goal but Guha's reflexes and agility produced a save similar to one made by Gordon Banks from Pele that the English regard as the best save ever. It is a rare moment when a goalie is a pleasure to watch but that save changed the match and was followed up by an assured performance.
Air India lost their big, quick striker Meetei to injury just before half time but this allowed the introduction on Godfrey Pereira who had been unavailable for the previous match. Pereira is a very clever forward, normally coming on from the bench in the first half, who turns Air India from an organised defensive team into a creative team dangerous on the break. Just 20 seconds into the second half Pereira got his considerable weight behind a volley that flashed over the SBT crossbar. SBT were careful not to get caught out at the back as losing this match could well prevent their qualification but went for the win cautiously, hoping for a psychological advantage going into the next stage. Despite lots of pressure from SBT the chances were evenly spread between the two teams but neither defence gifted any clear chances and Air India happily let the clock run down when in possession.

2.Division National League - Group B - Jamshedpur: Titanium XI 1-1 Hindustan Club - Goals: 0-1 Devash Kaushik (13'), 1-1 M Boniface (90+').
2.Division National League - Group B - Jamshedpur: Punjab Police 3-1 Manipur Police SC - Goals: 1-0 Sukhjit Singh (3'), 2-0,3-1 Gurbinder Singh (6',52'), 2-1 Shyam Chandra Singh (33').

Note-1: The 9th South Asian Federation Games, which has been postponed thrice, might be shifted from Pakistan to Sri Lanka. The Executive Committee of the South Asian Sports Federation will meet in Islamabad, Pakistan on April 10/11, is likely to move a resolution to shift the Games out of Pakistan so that the troubled event could go ahead. Sri Lanka, who were supposed to host the next edition, are most likely to get the Games. The venue can be shifted if five of the member countries desire so. India, who pulled out of the Games citing security threats to its athletes in Islamabad, is not attending the meeting but would surely support such a move, so that south Asia's biggest sports spectacle can take place.

Note-2: The AIFF's marketing agents, Strata, are trying their bit to popularise football in India. Football commercials are popular worldwide though not so much in India, as not many have been made in the past. In a bid to further popularise the sport in the country, the AIFF is in the process of making one. "The commercial, which will be telecast from the second week of April on various television channels, will star Baichung Bhutia, Mahesh Gawli, Abhishek Yadav, Joe Paul Ancheri and others. Strata Sports, our marketing agents are pumping in money for the same. Besides, we have received excellent support from LG Electronics and Kingfisher," an official had said.
The official further revealed that a private channel is in the process of hosting an Indian football show from early this month and the shooting of a half-an-hour slot with national coach Stephen Constantine has just been completed. But which channel and when was not revealed.

Note-3: The Asian Football Confederation has decided to postpone the AFC Women's Championship scheduled from April 17-30 in Thailand due to the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. The SARS outbreak first resulted in the postponement of two Asian zone Olympic qualifiers and now, the postponement of the AFC Women's Championship, which is a qualifier for the FIFA Women's World Cup in China this year. With safety first and foremost on the agenda, the AFC expressed its regret to postpone the tournament to a later date. "It is with deep regret that the AFC has decided to postpone the AFC Women's Championship. The AFC has taken this decision in close consultation with the Football Association of Thailand and the Ministry of Health," said AFC General Secretary Dato' Peter Velappan. Thailand is one of the affected countries as well as China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Vietnam. Velappan added that it is AFC's responsibility to protect their players, officials and fans from this disease. "We will monitor the situation closely and announce new dates as soon as the health authorities in all these countries give the green signal."

Note-4: In a significant move Guwahati Town Club, one of the premier Clubs in Assam, has decided to skip the Guwahati Super Division league this season. Jagannath Sarmah, president of the club said at a press conference that in protest against the indifferent attitude of the concerned authorities towards the historic Judges Field the Club decided not to take part in the league. Sarmah said that due to lack of infrastructure facilities the Club is unable to prepare a strong team and instead of playing in the Super Division by investing a hafty amount they will renovate the club house. On Judges Field Sarmah said that previously it was maintained by the GTC and till 1960s all the major sporting events were held on this Ground. But currently the Field is under the local administration and instead of sporting events public meetings, melas, circus, fairs and other activities are conducted regularly here. These activities turned the once paradise of the sportspersons to a field of melas, alleged the GTC president. GTC vice president Radha Bora urged the State government to hand over the Judges Field to their club so that they can maintain it for the cause of sports. He said that the local administrations should preserve the open areas so that these could be used for sports activities.

4. April
Ahead of their Pre-Olympic first Round qualifier in Ashkhabad, the Indian under-23 national team is confident of putting up a good show against hosts Turkmenistan. India will be play at the 7.000 seater Kopetdag Stadium, Ashkhabad in the evening under floodlights. Stephen Constantine's side will play in a 3-5-2 system, with reliable Mohun Bagan defender Satish Bharti as captain.
In the latest FIFA ranking India is 13 places ahead of Turkmenistan and we are favourites in the match. In the last match between the two countries, India's under-23 team team beat Turkmenistan 3-1 at the Busan Asiad last September. But in that match India had the likes of Baichung Bhutia, Deepak Mondal, Jo Paul Ancheri, etc. So lets see what the young guard can do away, as India need success on Asian level after the failure in the Asia Cup qualifiers...

2.Division National League - Group A - Thiruvananthapuram: FC Kochin 2-0 Tata Football Academy - Goals: 1-0 K Bijumon (80'), 2-0 Halifex Afrani (90+').
TFA showed none of the determination that enabled them to beat SBT so convincingly in their previous match and FCK took advantage of this. The best chances of the first half fell to Nana and Binoop who failed to beat the athletic TFA keeper. FCK were unlucky to not have taken the lead in the first half and returned for the second half keen to take advantage of an off day for TFA. The game could still have gone either way with Malswama and Jerry up front for TFA there was always a possibility of a goal but TFA never exposed the weaknesses of the FCK defence that has been particularly vulnerable in previous games to quick breaks. After Gouramangi was removed from the TFA midfield FCKs Halifex Afrani made his presence felt and began to control the match. FCK took the lead 10 minutes from time when Binoop was brought down in the box, winning a penalty that was converted by K Bijumon. FCK were tense for the rest of the match but a goal in injury time from Afrani eased Kochin nerves settling their first win.

Note-1: This is of interest to boys especially in Delhi and across northern India, who want to become footballers and often written to me, they do not have the chances to do so...
The Chandigarh Football Academy has announced trials for boys in the age group of 11-12 years, as the Academy has six vacantes. The boys, who are born between 1-02-1990 and 1-07-1991 are eligible for trials. For selection the boys should have minimum height of 150 cms and weight of 35 kgs.
The boys will be tested in physical, technical, psychological and medical aspects. The physical test critiria: 30 M flying start (for speed; qualifying timing 4 seconds and below), Standing Board Jump for explosive strength of legs (qualifying jump 190 cms and above), agility test - 6*10 (17 seconds and below), 800 meters run for endurance (3.05 minutes and below), flexibility test - sit&reach test (qualifying level 10 cms and above), Medicine Ball Put for upper body strength (3 meters and above).
The skill tests: 30 Metres dribbling (qualifying time 6 seconds and below), Shooting test, zig-zag obstacle dribbling - 10 yard distance with obstacle 2 yards part (12 seconds and below), Johnson wall volley test (40 and above kicks), 4*10 yards shuttle run with ball (13 seconds and below).
In the above tests, the boys will have to score a minimum of 20 marks out of 33 marks to quality for final trials.
In the final trials playing ability is tested through various drills and small sided games. After the playing ability test, a merit list is made for medical and psycholigal tests.
The trials will be held on April 23-25 at Chandigarh, Sports Complex, Hockey stadium, Sector - 42, with boys from north India only eligible.
For infos, contact Mr. Shaji Prabhakaran phone no: 09417009481 or email him under shajip4@rediffmail.com .
If you contact Mr. Prabhakaran, tell him that you read about the trails at our site.

Note-2: Doordarshan will no longer pay the AIFF or any other of the large sports federations in India for their telecast rights, except the Cricket federation, BCCI. As for other sports Doordarshan has to spend money, which it generates through Cricket. A tragedy for the AIFF, if the decision cannot be changed...
Confirming the decision, Doordarshan's Director-General SY Qureshi said it had been taken at last week's meeting of Prasar Bharati board and would be followed with immediate effect.
However, Doordarshan - which has an obligation, as public broadcaster, to televise "ethnic' sports and set up a channel with a Rs 310 million budget exclusively for that - will still offer to televise events for free, and also includes the option of marketing the events jointly and sharing revenues.
This year alone, Doordarshan has paid Rs 130 million as fee rights for live telecast to the various federations, including AIFF (Rs 72,5 million); Indian Hockey Federation (Rs 12 million); All India Tennis Association (Rs 10 million); Indian Women's Hockey Federation (Rs 12 million); and the Amateur Athletic Federation of India (Rs 2-3 lakh per National meet).
A top DD official said, on condition of anonymity, that the measures were being taken with a view to force the federations into marketing their game, something that hadn't been top-of-the-mind so long.
"We need to survive ourselves and therefore it is not possible to give subsidy to the federation any more. Other than cricket, we hardly make any revenue from covering other sports", he said.
Doordarshan's "rights fees' currently contribute a lion's share of the total revenue of the AIFF and IHF.
Three weeks ago, FIFA and the AIFF organised a conference in New Delhi on improving Indian football and marketing the game in tune with the times. DD's decision represents a setback to the plans but is also the price to pay for not heeding market forces.
AIFF secretary Albert Colaco said that the federation is already looking at other options. "Live telecast is very crucial to make football popular in India", he said.
What will the immediate fallout be? AIFF marketing agents, Strata, says the immediate loss will be enormous. "The fees from Doordarshan form a huge chunk of the AIFFs resources", says Strata's Rupinder Singh. "But football cannot survive without live coverage. We have to look at marketing the game more vigorously."

3. April
2.Division National League - Group A - Thiruvananthapuram: Air-India 3-1 Assam State Electricity Board - Goals: 1-0 Santosh Koli (16'), 1-1 Sanjiva Rongpi (18'), 2-1 Syed Altafuddin Ahmed (69'), 3-1 Narender Meetei (90').
Air India and ASEB played in the earlier match today and in the heat of the afternoon failed to entertain a growing crowd arriving in anticipation of the home side SBT against BSF. Air India did not look special and badly missed the guile of Godfred Pereira who has returned early to Mumbai for unknown reasons. But despite an average performance the Airmen are now sole leaders of Group A by a point from SBT.
The local rag captured my attention better than the match was able to so I missed two of the goals, but unlike a man sitting close to me, I was still awake so I managed to work out the goalscorers from the celebrations. Air India got the opener in the 16th through Santosh Koli only to have their lead wiped out two minutes later by Sanjiva Rongpi. ASEB have been poor in this tournament but they do have one player who stands out from the rest, H Lalremruata but he was foolishly taken off in the first half and showed his appreciation for his coaches decision by storming off. In the second half it was a matter of when the AI winner would come and in the 69th Altafuddin scored it to settle his coaches nerves and make up for his astonishing finishing against Kochin. In the last minute of the match substitute Narendra Mettei contributed one further goal to their tally.

2.Division National League - Group A - Thiruvananthapuram: State Bank of Travancore 2-0 Border Security Force - Goals: 1-0 Krishnan Ajayan (24'), 2-0 MA Abdul Hakkim (68').
Todays evening match was a more meaningful contest as both SBT and BSF needed a win to take them closer to qualification. After an even first ten minutes SBT took charge of the match and BSF's only real threat from then on was their aerial ability from corners. SBT opened the scoring when tiny Asif Saheer was fouled in the box 23 minutes in. The referee scared to give a penalty, compromised with an indirect free kick in the box from which Ajayan drove the ball through a gap in the wall giving the home side a lead that never seriously looked in danger. Early in the second period BSF tried to put some pressure on the bankmens defence but this just gave the rapid SBT frontline the space they wanted to attack. Abdul Hakkim got the second midway through the half, on a quick break he took on the last defender and toe poked it around Machinder Singh between the sticks. By the end the score should have been higher as Ignatius and Hakkim were guilty of poor finishing but SBT will just be happy to be back to winning ways and a win over Air India on Saturday will take them through to destination X - the final phase venue is yet to be confirmed.

2.Division National League - Group B - Jamshedpur: Mohammedan Sporting Club 7-0 Manipur Police SC - Goals: 1-0,6-0 Dipendu Biswas (16',76'), 2-0,4-0,5-0 Awal Ibrahim (19',43',56'), 3-0 Syed Rahim Nabi (42'), 7-0 Khemtang Paite (90').
2.Division National League - Group B - Jamshedpur: Sporting Clube de Goa 7-2 Titanium XI - Goals: 1-0 Augustine Rodrigues (10'), 1-1 Ebin Rose (32'), 2-1,3-1,4-1,5-1,7-2 MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi (38',42',43',57',85'), 6-1 Amaechi Nwabunwanne (67'), 6-2 Abdul Hamid (84').

2. April
2.Division National League - Group B - Jamshedpur: Punjab Police 1-0 Hindustan Club - Goal: 1-0 Manjeet Singh (49').

Note-1: Good news for Indian club football! A top Indian club, preferably the NFL champions, have been invited to take part in the inaugural ASEAN Football Club Championships. Club sides from Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar, Guam, Laos and Cambodia plus special invitees India will take part in the inaugural tournament slated for July 2003 in Indonesia. The tournament is being planned as a 12 team event played on a league-cum-knock-out basis. The participation of an Indian club has been made possible by the AIFFs marketing agents Strata, who have good contacts into south-east Asia.

Note-2: Once more Indian women footballers have raised a banner of revolt at the step-motherly treatment meted out to them, and over 50 of them will sit on a one-day "hunger strike" on April 7 to demand that the Union Sports Ministry should not sanction any proposal of the AIFF with regard to women's football in the country. Interestingly, the AIFF president Dasmunshi, had represented women's football when he sought re-election to the top post of the national body last time.
The women's footballers have decided to raise their voice in a hard way to be heard by the powers that be as the AIFF had not apparently followed the decisions and directives taken at a meeting convened by the Sports Ministry on June 8, 2001 with regard to policy making in women's football in the country.
The Women's Football Federation of India, which is headed by Kirti Azad, has alleged that the women's team selected by the AIFF was not the "real Indian team", as a majority of the players playing under the WFFI, have not found a place in the team. A general body meeting of the WFFI will also be held on April 7, to chalk out the annual calendar of the federation for 2003-04.
A delegation of the WFFI, led by its secretary Krishna Singh, had met secretary-general of the Asian Football Confederation Peter Velappan when he was in Delhi to attend the Conference of Indian Football on March 14. The Conference of Indian Football, conducted under the aegis of the AFC and the FIFA, had a fair representation of women footballers. Mr Veleppan had assured the WFFI to sort out its differences with the AIFF.

Note-3: Dr. Vece Paes has been nominated as chief of the AIFF's Medical Council. Dr. Paes, a former Hockey Olympian and father of Tennis Star Leander Paes, has been involved with Indian football in the past, just recently he was looking after the Indian team in Goa in their matches against North Korea and earlier he was team doctor of East Bengal Club. Dr. Paes was unsure if he was able to take up his role as chief, as he had already committed himself full time to the Asian Cricket Council.
According to infos the Medical Council will look after several aspects of football including the setting up of a doping control centre, a Peak Performance Programme for Indian national teams which will look into the players', 1) the mind set; 2) mission; 3) goals; 4) fitness evaluation and enhancement; 5) overtraining, fatigue and recovery; 6) exogenous factors (that support training); 7) environmental influence etc.

1. April
Great honour for the indianfootball.com team. We have been invited by the Asian Football Confederation to cast our votes for the nomitees we think appropiate for the AFC Annual Awards 2002 in the categories, Asian Player of the Year, Asian Young Player of the Year, Asian National Team of the Year, Asian Coach of the Year and AFC Fair Play Award.
This is a giant step forward for the indianfootball.com website, as this means, we are now a registered media group for football in India with the AFC! Interesting to add to this is that now our work has been acknowledged by the AFC and football world governing body FIFA. If you remember, FIFA president Sepp Blatter gave us an interview but still no word from the AIFF nor any help in regard to infos or anything else. Something which we think is very very sad, as we carry the word about Indian football around the world, not only through the online world.
And this also gives us the chance to thank the numerous journalists and fans, who help us with information! Your help is important to our work to keep you all informed.

2.Division National League - Group A - Thiruvananthapuram: FC Kochin 1-3 Air-India - Goals: 0-1 Vijith Shetty (44'), 0-2 Narendra Meetei (56'), 1-2 K Bijumon (88'), 1-3 Syed Altafuddin Ahmed (90+').
FC Kochin provided little resistance to Air India and now have no chance of qualifying for the next round being in joint last place of Group A with 0 points along with ASEB. Like Punjab Police in Group B who were also relegated last year, FC Kochin have failed to impress in the 2.Division, both teams have lost every match so far.
Air India's Vijith Shetty scored the first goal just before half time. Narendra Mettai then increased the lead in the 56.minute after he had taken on three Kochin defenders with ease. Kochin did pull a goal back in the 88.minute when K Bijumon successfully converted a penalty but Air India substitute Syed Altafuddin Ahmed restored the two goal advantage in stoppage time. Ahmed was relieved to have finally scored because his finishing had been embarrassingly poor earlier. Once having rounded the keeper he put the ball wide from a central position just five minutes later he beat the again awful FCK offside trap and under no pressure weakly chipped the ball into the hands of Rehman who was a long way from his goal line.
Air India showed little urgency to increase their lead after the win was made safe. This group is now very close and the qualifying positions could well be decided on goal difference.

2.Division National League - Group A - Thiruvananthapuram: State Bank of Travancore 0-2 Tata Football Academy - Goals: 0-1 Debabrata Roy (48'), 0-2 Bimal Pariyar (69').
Yesterdays 2-0 victory by the Tata Football Academy over State Bank Travancore here in Thiruvananthapuram has blown Group A wide open with BSF and Air India who earlier yesterday beat FC Kochin, top with 7 points each, while SBT and TFA are close behind on 6 points.
TFA were the better side from the beginning and played as though they had a point to prove. The early pressure was all from TFA keeping SBT pinned back. This should have suited SBT who like to sit back and then pounce, attacking with speed before opponents can regroup. However, TFA defended excellently causing great difficulty for SBT to even get the ball to their front players. Then in the 15.minute Ignatius and Saheer, the two men SBT coach Najeeb would want in such a position, got through TFA defence and were two on one against TFA sweeper Mondal but somehow the two men in all red bungled the opening. The significance of this wasted opportunity became more apparent in the second half. Just three minutes after the restart Debabrata Roy put TFA a goal up with a brilliantly executed penalty.
An exciting second half was now set up and most of the action came in the TFA half of the field as the home side applied the pressure. At one point an equaliser seemed imminent but it never came and in the 69.minute SBT were caught on the break by a cross from the right by Jery Zirsanga that was met with precise header into the far corner of the goal by Bimal Pariyar. As time ran out so did SBT run out of ideas. The TFA boys began to control the game again as the huge presence of the massively influential Gourmangi in centre midfield began to knock the ball around and keep possession.
It was a close, well contested match between two excellent teams but it was the younger team that took their chances and walk away with three deserved points.

2.Division National League - Group B - Jamshedpur: Manipur Police SC 1-4 Titanium XI - Goals: 0-1 K Renjith (10'), 1-1 S Gouridas Singh (30'), 1-2,1-4 Ebin Rose (35',88'), 1-3 K Sameer (50').

Note-1: The Indian Football Association (governing body of Bengal) will hold its AGM on April 25. The main point on the agenda is the election of the new secretaries. Current secretary Ranjit Gupta will no longer stand for election and it is thought that current treasurer Subrata Dutta will replace him.
Meanwhile the IFA informed that it will organise a cluster tournament for the preparation of the Super Division and first division teams before the start of the Leagues. Eight Super Division teams baring East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, Tollygunge and Md Sporting, and 32 Group A and B first division teams will participate. The tournament will likely be played across 11 districts in Bengal.
And some great news for talented players from outside Calcutta. The IFA will organise a players' bazar from April 9 to 15 at the SAI Eastern Centre. Players from across Bengal will practice in two sessions and the city clubs can choose their picks from these players for the League. IFA will provide the lodging facilities of the players chosen by the clubs.
The final phase of the inter-district coaching camp tournament will take place in the city from April 16. Also corporate sides will be asked to participate in the IFA Shield starting in the first week of July.

Note-2: The Tata Football Academy is looking at new countries to train their cadets abroad, with Japan and South Korea in sight. For more than a decade TFA have been coming to Germany, to stay at the National Sports University, Cologne, one of the best facilities in Germany. They have spend a month training and playing matches against German teams but now it seems the TFA management are serious about shifting their foreign training camp to the Far East. Initial talks have been held and TFA officials might soon visit the countries to access the given facilities. But Germany does not seem to be totally of the calendar, as a two year plan seems to in plan, every two years to Germany or Japan/South Korea.

Note-3: Former Delhi State captain Devraj Katyal died in Delhi today after a prolonged illness. He was 58 and leaves behind his wife, two sons and two daughters.
Devraj Katyal was not only a class player but also able administrator. He was the treasurer and managing committee member of the Delhi Soccer Association for over a decade. He represented reputed local clubs like Youngsters, New Delhi Heroes and City Club in the league for several years, before shifting to the then big team from Mumbai, Mafatlal. The DSA condoled the untimely death of Devraj Katyal.

Note-4: Mohun Bagan's Brazilian star striker Jose Barreto has informed that he has so far not decided if he will stay another season at Mohun Bagan. For the first time Barreto even said, he could think about a switch across to city rivals East Bengal. Alarm bells must be ringing at the Bagan camp...
Meanwhile Debashish Datta, Mohun Bagan club official and football convenor, resigned from his post citing "personal reasons".