10 Days at the Helm of Indian Football

“2009 is the year which will witness the worst Economic crisis; Job Cuts everywhere, Recession........” – These are the phrases and words that have marked the year till now. But 2009 is the year which apprises a new dawn for me. As my good friend Manjith terms it – it is the year when I started realizing my dream; A Dream to hear the Indian National Anthem being played at the Football World Cup and cry my heart out when a billion countrymen hum the same anthem in front of the whole world.

The biggest blunder – that is what everybody said when I took this defining step but I stand and say aloud that I have done something which very few dare to do. I am not among the people who sit back on a couch with a beer mug and say that Indian Football has no future – get onto the field and play the game my friend; the game to create a future for Indian Football.

It was in the month of March that I realized that the time was ripe to take the call and jump into the System with a golden opportunity knocking at my door. And yes, I grabbed it with both my hands. It has been 10 days at the Helm of Indian Football – The AIFF Football House.

You need to be passionate about a certain thing and if your job is what your passion is all about, mind it – nobody can stop you from achieving what you have set out to achieve. This is the motto which I have learnt from my Father. Indian Football can’t change and will never change if the Fans of the game don’t contribute towards developing the game.

10 Days – but it feels like months here. Websites, procedures, meetings with corporate houses – I have experienced them all in the last few days. And then I realise that it’s all there – everything is there for Indian Football to take off!!! I watch games at what we call the “Library” – which holds the FIFA, AFC journals, match videos, etc. It gives me goose bumps – sitting inside the federation house and taking decisions which will possibly realize the dream I have dreamt.

To tell you the fact, things are not as gloomy as projected by the media. Yes, there are a few hiccups, but let’s take it in a positive way – without them there wouldn’t have been any scope for improvement. On the hindsight, there are so many things which are there but alas not projected to the Fans of the game. A few important decisions have been taken in the last few days like the Team travelling to Dubai and FC Barcelona to train for the Nehru Cup, adopting the AFC 3+1 Foreigner rule, laying 8 artificial turfs across the country, etc. I would call this the trailer of a big movie and come August, we may see the start of a revolution in Indian Football.

I end it by quoting Mr. Colaco, “Indian Football not only needs infrastructure, money, corporate partnerships but it needs professional human resources. It needs a little bit of everything”; it would be the gr8est day in Indian Football when the Fans of the game rise up and do something for the same game they love the most in their own country.