It’s a drama of the absurd. Kolkata clubs pay astronomical sums to recruit players and coaches for the football teams, yet all they achieve is peanuts. This is a new development, and it seems despite all fanfare in the beginning of the season, there is a competition as who among the 3 would touch the nadir at the earliest.
Football’s health in Kolkata has been on decline for quite some time, and this year’s breathtaking disaster shows how deep the malaise has set in. Let’s look at some telltale signs.
Mohun Bagan had built a dream team, with perhaps the best striker-duo in India – Barreto and Bhaichung. Yet it finished at 8th place, just one notch above relegation. It changed coaches like playing poker, and after Chima Okerie left there was just no coach at all.
Mohun Bagan’s earstwhile reject, Beto and Sunil Chhetri played their hearts out for Dempo and JCT respectively. The 2 became the champion and runner-up of this edition’s NFL.
The less said about Mohammedan Sporting the better. Perpetually in the grip of mal-administration, the club performed so badly that in their last match they made a NFL record by consuming 9 goals against Mahindra at Cooperage. The way they played, it begs the question as to why at all they played the match. Hadn’t they played, they’d have probably been handed a fine but at least they could escape the ignominy of 0-9 defeat.
Like Mohun Bagan, Mohammedan too rejected Nigerian striker Odafa Okoli as it did JCT’s later recruit Edeh Chidi. Odafa, after doing rounds at Peerless and Bangladesh’s Muktijodhdha, was picked up by Churchill. And there he blossomed as his talent came to use for his club. Odafa is the NFL’s highest scorer this season.
The other Kolkata giant, East Bengal, is marginally better than its brethrens. Yet it miserably failed to capitalize its chance of winning NFL in the second leg.
It’s said that when EB won several matches on the trot in 2nd round, its captain Alvito D’Cunha, instead of remaining with the team to ensure further wins, nonchalantly left for home apparently to remove tattoos on his hand. He missed 3 matches, and by the time he returned the title had already slipped away from EB’s grip.
Who knows what would happen next year? Spectators hardly go to witness matches, something that was unimaginable even 2 years back. The new bosses at IFA, eminently capable as they are, have promised to chart a new chapter in city’s football scenario (see my story, An able administrator). Will they achieve anything fruitful? We’ll wait and watch.
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