Former Iranian player Jamshed Nassiri has asked sport’s national body to set its house in order.
Jamshed Nassiri has a reputation of somebody who speaks his mind. He usually maintains low profile, but is a completely different person when asked about Indian football. On Friday, this side of his came to the fore again.
Slamming the All India Football Federation (AIFF) squarely for the declining standards of the game in the country, the former Iranian player asked the sport’s parent body to put its house in order with better governance.
“Up to the 1980s, Indian football performed well in Asia. In 1976, India and Iran, which was represented by my friend Majid Bhaskar, finished joint first in the Asian Youth Cup and next year both were semifinalists. Those days AIFF was run by people who were interested in keeping the standards of the game high,” Nassiri said at a panel discussion on Friday.
“I have made India my country for the last 30 years and have gone to small villages and seen a lot of talent everywhere. The need is to spot the talent, nurture it, groom it and improve the football infrastructure. This is where AIFF has failed,” said Nassiri, who is based in Kolkata.
“There were so many tournaments in those days - the Stafford Cup in Bangalore, the Sait Nagjee in Kerala, the Bordoloi Trophy in north east and the DCM in Delhi,” he pointed out.
Nassiri was among several former footballers who were honoured after the Barclays Premier League trophy was unveiled at a city hotel.
Former India skipper IM Vijayan was of the opinion that there was a lot of young talent in India but said only one national-level academy — run by the house of Tatas — which is not enough and asked for many more big football academies to be set up.
Churchill Brothers football club owner, Churchill Alemao, also criticised the AIFF for the way it picks players for the national team.
“They pick four players from Churchill, five from Dempo and so on to make the national team. This won’t work. The way forward to build a strong team and make it qualify for the World Cup is to pick about 200 boys between 13-18 years and train them,” he said.
Other former players who were honoured included Bernard Pereira, Godfrey Pereira, Akheel Ansari, Kiron Khongsei, Ilyas Pasha, Bhaskar Maity, Sanath Seth and Jo Paul Ancheri.
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