National League from today

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC. 13. At last, the fifth edition of the National Football League (NFL) is set to roll. After all the uncertainties, the start, through a match between defending champion Mohun Bagan, and JCT, Phagwara at the Ambedkar Stadium here on Thursday, along with a match each in Goa and Bangalore, should be a huge relief for all concerned.

It is another matter that a sponsor is yet to step in and the League itself will have to go through a fragmented course this year, thanks to its delayed start as well as the need to prepare the best team for the one-off Millennium Cup. The first phase will, in fact, last just a week, hardly sufficient for the tempo to pick up.

Yet, the show must go on, if only to sustain an effort that had taken off so splendidly four years ago but had stuttered since then due to a variety of reasons, not least of all poor television coverage. The deal that the All India Football Federation (AIFF) struck with Doodarshan did bring in a hefty rights fee, but the coverage remained woefully short of expectations. ``The foreign network had done a far better job'' was the general refrain.

Wider television coverage plus a better revenue- sharing formula were the main planks on which the newly-formed Indian Premier Football Association (IPFA) mounted its assault against the AIFF, roping in nine of the 12 NFL participants. At one stage, it looked as though there would be two leagues, with the AIFF even prepared to bring in stand-by teams in case the leading clubs withdrew.

Mercifully, a truce had been reached between the AIFF and the IPFA, the parent body conceding a majority of the demands of the clubs, but not recognising the IPFA or signing a memorandum of understanding with it. On the face of it, the revenue-sharing formula, 80:20 in the clubs' favour from next edition, sounds mouth-watering, but it is to be seen how much of surplus the NFL can generate.

To talk of generating Rs. 15 crores is easy but to actually bring that kind of money into the kitty is going to be a real tough task.

Has the NFL helped improve the standard of Indian football?

Initially, it did look that there was an improvement the way the team fared in the Nehru Cup, pointed out the Salgaocar veteran Bruno Coutinho during a recent discussion. But after that there had been stagnation all over again. More and more dependence on foreign players will make it that much tougher on the home-bred youngsters to come through the ranks, though it has to be admitted that the `imports' have added to the lustre of the NFL.

Take the case of Mohun Bagan, which should be starting on Thursday on a confident note after its Durand Cup victory at the very same ground a little over a month ago. The key players for the Calcutta team up front are its Brazilian recruits, Joao Dos Santos and Jose Barretto, the latter adjudged the `best player' in the Durand.

This is not to suggest that the Indian players have failed to catch the eye. Some of them have performed up to expectations. But another Baichung Bhutia or an I.M. Vijayan is yet to emerge on the distant horizon, with or without the NFL.

On its part, JCT has not gone in so far for the foreign recruits. It might do so after the first set of two matches. ``We are better prepared than we were in the Durand,'' said coach Sukhwinder Singh, his optimism stemming from the adequate period of training his team had since the Durand. He said the team had thought of adding a forward and a defender to the list after the Durand, but considering the gap that should follow the first phase ending December 20, it was decided to hold back for the time being.

JCT is likely to be without two of its defenders, Kuldip Singh and Prabhjot Singh, both in the injured list, for Thursday's match. Sukwinder is planning to field an absolute newcomer in Pawan Kumar in the defence. And the JCT coach has high hopes on the youngster. Mohun Bagan will miss its No. 1 goalkeeper Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, also because of an injury.

The kick-off is at 2.30 p.m.

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