Nothing but football.
When Mohun Bagan was taking on George Telegraph in CFL, the scourge of power outage struck back. Soon after Katsumi Yusa equalized for Bagan in the 72nd minute, two of the four floodlights in the stadium went kaput and the play got disrupted for around 16 minutes.
The match ended 1-1.
Read More : Blackout halts Bagan-George Telegraph tie
In a players status committee meeting, AIFF had directed Churchill Brothers to pay up the player’s salaries they had held up so far. Today the Goan outfit has launched a scathing attack on the Indian football federation accusing them for non-payment of full prize-money to the club as they were the champions of the I-league last season.
Churchill Brothers accused that AIFF has only managed to pay 30 lakhs of the totally 70 lakhs which is the prize money for the winners of the I-league. They also accused AIFF of not clearing other dues pending.
Read more : Churchill Brothers lashes out at AIFF over payment issue
AFC general secretary, Alex Soosay has voiced AFC’s support for India’s bid to host the U-17 World Cup in 2017.
Even though the Union cabinet has cleared AIFF’s proposal to host the U-17 World Cup, FIFA requires government guaranty on tax exemption, security, visa, foreign exchange and transport. AIFF has not been able to secure these guarantees so far.
The bid proposal has to be submitted before September 30th to FIFA else we risk the chance of hosting to other nations such as Ireland, Uzbekistan and South Africa who are also in contention.
Read more : AFC backs India’s U-17 World Cup bid
Mohun Bagan has defaulted on the salary of seven players – Rakesh Masih, Jewel Raja, Manish Maithani, Biswajit Saha, Arindam Bhattacharya, NP Pradeep and Khelemba Meitei. Churchill Brother has defaulted on the salary of two players – Steven Dias and Sandip Nandy.
Mohun Bagan representative in the Player Status Committee meeting with AIFF said that they were ready to clear the due but is not in the right financial situation now.
Read more : Mohun Bagan lack money to clear dues
Kerala football Association is planning to set up a residential football academy in Kochi as part of their five-year plan to revamp grassroot football in the state. UK club Reading FC will assist Kerala FA by providing their academy syllabus which the Kerala FA residential academy will follow.
The academy will be set up in association with the sole I-league second division team from Kerala – Eagles FC. KFA is also planning to host an annual football festival for kids in the age-group of 6-2.
Mohammedan Sporting defeated Kalighat Milan Sangha 3-1 and cruised to the ongoing Durand Cup semifinal.
Read more : Mohammedan Sporting through to Durand semis
Image Courtesy : http://www.thehindu.com/
Former India striker Sabir Pasha tells us what almost everyone us know – Our football has hardly made any progress over the years.
Here is an article in which Sabir Pasha is discussing our stagnant football scene, the dearth of quality players and so on – Nothing much has happened to Indian football: Pasha
ONGC football club defeated Pune FC 2-1 in the ongoing Durand Cup and cruised to the semi finals. However, the club run by the public sector unit faces an uncertain future as they cannot fulfill the AFC guidelines.
ONGC also recently inked a deal with AIFF to sponsor the national team. Reportedly the deal is worth 15 crore for three years.
Here is an article which discusses the uncertain future of ONGC football club – ONGC wins pitch battle, but faces awkward questions over future
Pune FC crashed out of Durand Cup after getting defeated by ONGC 2-1. They finished the quarter final round at third place behind ONGC and Army Red in Group IV.
Read more : Pune FC exits Durand Cup after loss to ONGC
The Indian U-16 football team who is on a preparatory tour ahead of the upcoming AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers defeated Sharjah Sports Club U-17 Team 4-0 in a friendly match today.
While on paper the victory looks massive, Sharjah Sports Club is almost in tatters as of 2013 as they finished at the bottom of the UAE League. Read about the high and lows for Sharjah football club here.
Read more on India U-16 victory here.