Besides the goof-ups made while selecting the venue for the Mir Iqbal Trophy, a few other issues have rocked the sub-junior national football tournament which is currently under way in the city.
In a fresh development that came to light on Thursday, the Goan team has become the latest victim of the anomalies of the Western Indian Football Association (WIFA).
The time the Goans landed in the city they were at the mercy of the WIFA and the state body messed it up yet again.
“We came here at 11pm last Monday and didn’t get a proper accommodation. We were put up in a SAI Centre hall where 25 of us had to stay in one hall without any pillows or bed sheets,” Goa coach Seby Noronha told DNA on Thursday.
After having to spend two consecutive nights in such conditions at the SAI Centre room, Goan team had to take the field for their opening match on Thursday against Karnataka. “Our players were feeling sleepy and we lost 0-4 in the first match, thanks to the harassment by the WIFA officials,” Noronha said.
They lodged another complaint on Wednesday and the WIFA this time decided to shift them to a ‘better place’ closer to the ground.
“We were told to go to the SAI Centre and take our luggage from there and come back to Cooperage…a bus was supposedly arranged for us. But after 11.30pm no bus came to pick us up. Instead we were stuffed in two cars and brought to Mumbai Hockey Association dormitory at around 3am on Thursday,” the Goan coach went on.
“I tried to get in touch with some officials but they redirected me to WIFA assistant secretary Wali Mohammad, who refused to even take calls from us,” the coach added.
Now with AIFF president Praful Patel trying his heart out to professionalise the set-up, few officials seem to be determined to carry on the faux pas of the past.
For the record, Patel ensured that the sub-junior meet gets a sponsor and they roped in Coca-Cola.
“Despite Coca Cola funding the tournament, the boys are facing this treatment from the organisers which is very unfortunate and surely a hindrance for the growth of Indian football,” an AIFF source said.
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