Will the Punjab Government help to save JCT?

On Monday former National Football League champions JCT from the small Punjab town of Phagwara announced that they would disband their senior team and not participate in the 2nd Division I-League while focusing on their JCT Football Academy and grassroot projects in the state. But all hope might not be lost just yet.

Football insiders weren't surprised at the step taken, but many people across Punjab and northern India plus the general sports fraternity have been shocked that the lone torch-bearers of North Indian football on the national scene would suddenly disappear into oblivion.

There has been calls on the Punjab government to intervene and offer JCT the necessary help to keep the senior team running, while some have asked about the corporate responsibility on JCT's side.

And the Director of Sports in the Punjab government Pargat Singh, a former hockey international himself, has stated that he thinks that in certain pockets of the state football is the biggest sport especially in and around Phagwara, where JCT are based.

While a state intervention looks likely there has also been calls on Non-Resident Punjabis around the world to help the club sustain themselves in the Indian football system. Examples are the contributions to Sports in Punjab in general or the way Kabaddi is being supported by rich Punjabis and their businesses from North American and Europe.