‘Officials need to change attitude’

National coach Bob Houghton has re-iterated his belief that the attitude of officials was preventing a change in profile of Indian football.

“The AIFF consists of officials from various states and clubs, who all have their agendas and not the ideas to take the game forward,” Houghton said ahead of the national team’s departure for a camp in Portugal.

“They are only concerned about their clubs playing in tournaments like the I-League because of the money, and are often clashing with each other,” felt Houghton. “India should be worrying about qualifying for the World Cup. But here we are, struggling at 133rd rank despite playing the game for 120 years,” said Houghton, who revealed that his contract with the AIFF had now been stretched till 2013.

“I have been saying that we have to look at the big picture and ensure that the I-League produces players and the national team gets to play together. Everyone has been trying to bring the I-League up to a certain level, but the clubs haven’t fulfilled the AFC Club licensing criteria and this stalls the progress,” he added.