Listed below is a brief summary of every session conducted at today's summit
Efficient use of stadium infrastructure
The day began with an astute presentation by Paul Fletcher, ex-CEO of Burnley FC, on the 'Efficient use of stadium infrastructure'. Mr. Fletcher not only gave an insight and thoughtful understanding about the infrastructure for football stadiums in England, but also highlighted the importance of how India needs to investigate and learn from their mistakes to help develop good and effective stadium infrastructure in India.
According to Paul Fletcher, who played for Burnley, Bolton Wanderers and FC Blackpool, the Three Buzz Words required for proper infrastructure were: Legacy, Community and Revenue. "While building infrastructure, do not forget to build the people," he said.
Talent Development: Goa, the catalyst & gateway to Indian football success
Asian Football Confederation - Coach education head Mohamed Basir in his presentation briefed the audience on the concept of Talent Development and its importance in football.
Stressing on aspects such as Nature or Nurture, Chance or Design and Quantity or Quality, he spoke about how Goa could be a model state in the field of football. In conclusion, he appealed to football lovers present to remain unified, as in the long run it is this unity which is crucial for the upliftment of Indian football.
Then I took over the panel discussion in which Henry Menezes, CEO of the Western India Football Association, focused on building players and creating pathways for them. He said, "We have to understand whether we need to 'build' players or 'buy' players."
Salgaocar FC secretary Raj Gomes gave a brief understanding of talent development strategies at his club; while Kenny Moyes, Managing Director - Libero Professional Pre-Season Tours Ltd spoke about the participation and consistency of the players towards the sport.
Mariano Baretto, of Goan origin and a UEFA Pro license coach, believes that different opportunities help in shaping young football players' careers. "Our world has produced many fantastic players such as Roonie, Messi and Ronaldo who have contributed towards the sports success and recognition worldwide," said Mariano.
Community Development: Sports (Football) - The simple upliftment of society
Kushal Das, AIFF General Secretary, spoke about the FIFA Football for Hope program, its principle being, "Keeping Communities Connected." He also mentioned about the success of the Goalz Project in Kolkata launched in 2012 as it engaged not only the community but also the local police force.
"Sports, especially football is inspirational and has a global reach. It also teaches us the values of life," Das said.
P.K. Mukherjee, MD of Vedanta SESA FA spoke about football being a community game and stated that theGoa Football Development Council (GFDC) should become the Indian Football Development Council (IFDC) in the future.
"Football is a performing art and can be developed only with passion," says Mukherjee.
According to Sports commentator and writer Novy Kapadia, "Football is Goa's identity." He believes that although Indian football has not been very successful, it does have a long history.
Ajay Shetty, Head training and accreditation, Magic Bus along with Peter Vaz, Sporting Clube de Goa president, had a similar viewpoint on how AIFF needed to show more support towards the development of football. Ajay Shetty further went on to give a brief insight on the working of Magic Bus.
Peter Vaz also added that there were lack of stadiums, which according to him should be small with good road connectivity, and that government associations should be revived towards the upliftment of the sport.
Marketing & Sponsorship: When Football meets Moneyball
The GIFT had a panel discussion on the topic 'Marketing and Sponsorship' in football with Radhakrishnan Sreenivasan, Sports Editor and Senior presenter of Neo Sports, moderating the session which gave a distinguishing aspect between cricket and football.
Keynote speaker for the session, Hass Aminian, Director of New Business Development at Sportfive International (Asia), in his presentation 'When football meets Moneyball' proposed some of the marketing strategies that could enhance the football market. Mr. Aminian, in his presentation gave examples of the English and Spanish models.
Aminian also pointed some of the drawbacks in Indian football. He said that Indians lack participation in any major sports, secondly that dominance in India is linked to national team performance and not at local level and thirdly that India lacks infrastructure to host major events.
"Stop taking steps, look for an elevator," stated, Chairman and Co-founder of Taproot, Agnello Dias. According to him, the Goa Football Association should promote football amongst the people who are interested in the sport rather than the ones already playing.
Valanka Alemao, Churchill Brothers CEO, pointed out that although Bollywood and Cricket has a national front, football still continues to be popular even among Indians. She put forward her opinion about how we needed to package Indian football better to make it more attractive. "Football is the most expensive and attractive ball," she added.
CEO of Sportskeeda Porush Jain stated, "The Indian economy is continuously growing, for the betterment of Indian football, the exploitation of the Indian market is necessary."
Rajesh Kharabanda, CEO of Nivia-Freewill Sports Pvt. Ltd. added to the discussion by suggesting that in order to increase revenue, the clubs needed to increase their fan base.
The Professionals: Upgrading our Competition to Export Stars
GIFT's final session on 'The Professional' began with a presentation by the keynote speaker, R. Sasikumar, Ex-Captain of the Singapore football team, and MD of Red Card Group. Sasikumar in his presentation on 'Upgrading our competition to export stars' gave an example of Japan's rise on the football ground mentioning their 100 years plan 2012.
He also introduced the heroes that changed the face of Spanish and Japanese football. He focused on the need for more I-Leagues that would lead to the success of the national teams. He felt that India needed to invest and commit more economy in a footballer - the parents, clubs, agents and federations. To conclude his presentation he stated, "India needs more players."
Team India coach Wim Koevermans stood-up and appealed to the audience to take inspiration from the Nike logo "Just do it". "You build the best, bring the best and play against the best" said Wim in context to building professionals.
Meanwhile Srinivas Dempo, AIFF Vice-President, GFA and Dempo president, while talking about building professional players, pointed out that in the past 10 years, India has witnessed change but there is still a need for rapid change.
Joshua Lewis, CEO of Kenkre Football Academy, focused on grassrooot level planning and development of player professionalism.
The Closing Ceremony
The closing ceremony of the Goa International Football Table was held on Saturday afternoon in the presence of Dr. Rufino Monteiro and the chief guest, Francis D'Souza, deputy CM of Goa.
The closing ceremony began with the sum-up of the two day summit by Udit Sheth - MD & CEO TransStadia, the knowledge partners of GFDC. Followed by the concluding address by Dr. Monteiro in which he thanked all the speakers and delegates and all the exemplary players whilst promising to make the summit an annual event and show-case the progress in the GFDC endeavour taking valuable inputs from the seminar. He acknowledged the participation of the Bollywood star, Suniel Shetty and current India skipper, Sunil Chhetri during the parade held earlier in the day.
The ceremony followed with a speech by the chief guest, wherein he commented on the efforts put in by the GFDC towards popularizing football. "Rufino Monteiro is on a very serious mission and will take the right step in the right direction to achieve success."
Thereafter the 1978 National School Games gold medalist team was then felicitated - the Manager…John Viegas, Baptist Fernandes, Peter Miranda, Ignacious Dias, Sarto Baptista, Agnelo Fonseca, Joseph Cardozo, Tadeo Barretto, William Machado, Caitano D'Souza, Caitano D'Souza and the captain, Edmund Mascarenhas who was overwhelmed that their heroics in the freezing cold of Srinagar were finally recognised by the government through GFDC.
The function concluded with the vote of thanks by Kennedy D'Silva - Executive Secretary of the Goa Football Development Council.
