Where are the organisers?

MUMBAI: The Mumbai Schools Sports Association got a sponsor and lost it because the firm felt MSSA did not heed to their branding details and other related matters. The truth of it remains to be established but MSSA’s sloppy way of organising came to the fore again when it was noticed there was no official present to conduct the proceedings of the ongoing under-8 inter-school football tournament.

The proceedings were, in fact, conducted by peons and other office attendants. Worse, the football secretary was not even engaged elsewhere and was watching a cricket match elsewhere instead!

With no proper direction, the parents and teachers did not have any clues about the match schedule while the two referees religiously went about doing their duty. To add insult to injury, when contacted, Ashok Lohar, the official concerned said: “I am at the Police Gymkhana watching the cricket final (of Parle Cup)”.

“There are people out there to conduct the matches,” added Lohar while commenting, “I might be the secretary of football but that does not mean I should be there for all the matches.”

However, this seems to be the order of the day rather than an occasional instance as one of the parents commented on condition of anonymity. “But, that is the way these peope (MSSA) organize.”