Even as the All India Football Federation is hard at work in trying to convince world body Fifa to grant India the hosting rights for the U-17 World Cup in 2017, Sports Authority of India director general Jiji Thompson has raised a serious question mark over India’s ability to field a competitive team in the event.
“In four years’ time, we will possibly host the U-17 World Cup and as hosts it is imperative to have a good team. But I doubt if we will have a team that will qualify (for the later stages),” Thomson said here on Thursday.
But Thomson, himself an avid football follower, has also approached the AIFF with a plan to introduce futsal at the school level, with an aim to groom talent for the event.
“I have spoken to AIFF president Praful Patel about introducing futsal at the school level and he has asked secretary Kushal Das to meet me tomorrow to take the idea forward,” Thomson said. The idea came to Thomson’s mind after he read about Brazil’s rising star Neymar’s ball skills were possibly attributed to futsal which he played during his childhood years. The game is similar to football but is played indoors, with a smaller ball and have five players on each side.
Thomson, meanwhile, was critical of the way the SAI coaches work and questioned their commitment.
“SAI’s coaches, after a while, forget their commitment. A canoeing and a kayaking coach asks for transfer in Patiala where there is no kayaking. A boxing coach will ask for a transfer to Kerala where there is no boxing.
“The UK produces 35,000 coaches a year and 80 per cent of them are voluntary, working without salaries. SAI produces 300 coaches a year and of the 1500 posts available, 300 posts are lying vacant,” he added.