Rift between AIFF & Players???

As I have mentioned a few times before, not all is well in the Team India camp. I get the worrying feeling that there is a widening rift between the players and the All India Football Federation top brass, which is happening at the worst possible time then with the 2011 AFC Asian Cup just days away, everybody in Indian football - administrators, clubs, players, media and fans - need to rally behind the Indian national football team ahead of its big assignment.

And most of us know that it will be a daunting task for our boys to face Australia, Bahrain and South Korea in Qatar. The manager Pradip Chowdhury leaving on Friday came at the worst possible moment, but surprisingly numerous players questioned the role of the manager and amongst them even those players who normally say nothing negative about anybody in public.

AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das speaking to the Telegraph had said, "The players shouldn't have got involved into this controversy. I will consult the AIFF president (Praful Patel) and the executive committee before deciding on our next course of action."

And that too is a worrying reaction from the new AIFF General Secretary, then the players are key members of the squad and they are openingly supporting their coach Bob Houghton plus they are also making a ver valid point by saying that they are worried that internal team information is being leaked to the media, which to them is causing unwanted distractions.

An unnamed AIFF office bearer also told the Telegraph, "We have a strong feeling that some people in the team are trying to cover up for their poor performance and are being encouraged by a section of the staff."

And this AIFF office bearer would add, "We have spent Rs. 16 crore for the team in the past eight months and all we received in return were 27 goals against us in nine matches. The Indian football fans surely deserve better treatment."

Such statements make me thing even more that there are problems between the AIFF and players, then I guess spending the money to prepare the team for the Asian Cup shouldn't really be an issue as India goes into the tournament as the lowest ranked nation plus no exposure at this continental level for nearly three decades and that is showing now. But as said, lets all keep together now and focus on the Asian Cup!

And all this brings me to one conclusion. There needs to be retrospection of Team India's preparations for the Asian Cup, which only should be done once the tournament is over. Be it the GOAL2011 project; the costs involved; the roles of coach Bob Houghton, manager Pradip Chowdhury, other officials and the players; the players selection; the many injuries; the lining up of friendly matches and all other related points. And an independent body should look into these issues for us to learn something for the future and how things could and should be done better.