67th Santosh Trophy: Bengal name final 20 player squad

The Indian Football Association (West Bengal) has announced their final 20 players squad for the 67th edition of the National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy which is being played from February 1 to March 3 in Kerala and Uttar Pradesh.

Record champions Bengal have been drawn in Group A of the preliminary round to be played in Kochi having to face Delhi on February 17 and Indian Railways on February 19.

Manoranjan Bhattacharya has been named as the coach with Satyajit Chatterjee as his assistant as the coach called-up numerous bench and fringe players of the Kolkata I-League sides East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Prayag United besides players from Calcutta Premier Division teams.

The IFA will tomorrow launch their new jersey at a press conference.


BENGAL

Goalkeepers
Arnab Das Sharma (Mohammedan Sporting Club), Debjit Majumdar (Bhowanipore Club), Manas Barua (Southern Samity)

Defenders
Bapi Saha (Prayag United SC), Soumik Roy (Prayag United SC), Deepak Singh, Sagram Mandi (Bhowanipore Club), Sourav Chakrabarty (Mohun Bagan AC), Gour Naskar (Prayag United SC), Saikat Saha Roy (East Bengal Club)

Midfielders
Mohammed Muktar, Arjun Chatterjee (Mohun Bagan AC), Gopal Debnath (Aryan Club), Abhishek Aich (Calcutta Port Trust), Jagannath Sana (Bhowanipore Club), Francis Xavier (Prayag United SC)

Forwards
Dipendu Biswas (Mohun Bagan AC, Captain), Nabin Hela (Bhowanipore Club), Anjan Dey (Prayag United SC)

Officials
Manaranjan Bhattacharyya (Coach), Satyajit Chatterjee (Assistant Coach), Partha Chakrabarty (Goalkeeper Coach)

'The Art of German Goalkeeping' course in Mumbai from tomorrow

A high performance goalkeeping instructor course titled 'The Art of German Goalkeeping' will be held from October 8 to 15 at the Cooperage Ground in Mumbai.

The course will be conducted by instructors Lutz Pfannenstiel and Feliz Imm from Germany, who are on a three week coaching instruction trip to India as part of a partnership between the German Olympic Association (DOSB) and German Football Association (DFB) plus their Indian partners All India Football Federation, Indian Football Association (West Bengal), Mizoram Football Association and Western Indian Football Association (Maharashtra).

The course in Mumbai is being organised by WIFA under the aegis of the AIFF, DOSB and DFB with the course open to AIFF affiliated coaches plus those from I-League clubs and Academies.

AIFF's Technical Director for Regional Academies Scott O'Donell would also conduct some modules of the program. The coaching program includes theory as well as practical sessions and the participants would be introduced to the German way of goalkeeping.

"This is a great initiative. This course will be the first of many such activities that will take place at Cooperage in the coming months," added WIFA CEO Henry Menezes.

Before coming to Mumbai the duo of Lutz Pfannenstiel and Feliz Imm have been in Kolkata (West Bengal) and Aizawl (Mizoram) over the last couple of weeks to do general coaching courses.

German Coaching/Goalkeeping Instructors coming to India

The German Olympic Association (DOSB) and German Football Association (DFB) are sending two Coaching and Goalkeeping instructors to India for the next three weeks to run two Coaching courses in Kolkata and Mizoram plus the goalkeeping course "The Art of German Goalkeeping" in Mumbai.

The first course will be held from Monday onwards in Kolkata by the Indian Football Association (West Bengal) in which local coaches get the chance to learn the German way of coaching, which in the last few years has been very successful.

The second course will be held by the Mizoram Football Association in the state capital Aizawl. Originally planed for youth development coaches, the course is now open to all coaches in the Northeastern state as such high level instructors rarely come to Mizoram.

The third and final course will be organised by the All India Football Federation and hosted by the Western India Football Association at the Cooperage Ground in Mumbai from October 12-15. Goalkeeping coaches contracted with the AIFF, from I-League clubs and other institutions have been invited for the course "The Art of German Goalkeeping" then Germany has brought out some of the best goalkeepers in the history of world football.

VIDEO: Tolgay visits East Bengal to get token & final clearance

The summer drama of the Tolgay Ozbey transfer from East Bengal Club to Mohun Bagan AC is now over. The Australian striker visited the East Bengal club tent yesterday to pick-up the token, get even a momento and then left as a relieved footballer. Here the XtraTime report on the happenings in Kolkata.

IFA update latest Calcutta Premier Division fixtures

The Indian Football Association (West Bengal) has released the revised second fixtures list for the 2012/13 season of the Calcutta Premier Division which is seeing 19 teams in action and they have been divided into two group - Group A with 10 teams, Group B with nine teams.

The second list had originally scheduled matches from Wednesday, August 29 to Friday, September 7 with all participating clubs at least once in action over that 10 day period. But then the police informed the IFA that it could not provide necessary security cover from August 29 to September 1 at the Saltlake Stadium and therefore the IFA was forced to redo the fixtures and updated them accordingly with matches announced upto September 11.


FIXTURES

Group A
East Bengal Club, Prayag United SC, Aryan Club, Army XI, Kalighat Milan Sangha, Railway FC, BNR, George Telegraph SC, Eastern Railway SC, Peerless SC

30-Aug-2012: Kalighat Milan Sangha - Peerless SC
31-Aug-2012: Aryan Club - Railway FC
03-Sep-2012: East Bengal Club - BNR RC
03-Sep-2012: Kalighat Milan Sangha - Peerless SC
06-Sep-2012: East Bengal Club - Army XI
06-Sep-2012: BNR RC - Eastern Railway SC
08-Sep-2012: Prayag United SC - George Telegraph SC
10-Sep-2012: Aryan Club - BNR RC
10-Sep-2012: Army XI - Railway FC
11-Sep-2012: Prayag United SC - Peerless SC

Group B
Mohun Bagan AC, Mohammedan Sporting Club, Bhawanipore Club, Calcutta Port Trust, Tollygunge Agragami, Police AC, Southern Samity, West Bengal Police, Kalighat Club

01-Sep-2012: Calcutta Port Trust - Tollygunge Agragami
02-Sep-2012: Mohun Bagan AC - West Bengal Police
05-Sep-2012: Police AC - Tollygunge Agragami
07-Sep-2012: Mohammedan Sporting Club - Bhawanipore Club
09-Sep-2012: Calcutta Port Trust - Southern Samity
09-Sep-2012: West Bengal Police - Kalighat Club

IFA announce latest Calcutta Premier Division fixtures

The Indian Football Association (West Bengal) has released the second fixtures list for the 2012/13 season of the Calcutta Premier Division which is seeing 19 teams in action and they have been divided into two group - Group A with 10 teams, Group B with nine teams.

The second list has matches scheduled from Wednesday, August 29 to Friday, September 7 with all participating clubs at least once in action over that 10 day period.

So far the Calcutta Premier Division 2012 has been about Mohun Bagan AC's walkovers against Southern Samity and Tollygunge Agragami due to the non-resolution of the Tolgay Ozbey transfer issue and their archrival East Bengal's two high scoring victories.


FIXTURES

Group A
East Bengal Club, Prayag United SC, Aryan Club, Army XI, Kalighat Milan Sangha, Railway FC, BNR, George Telegraph SC, Eastern Railway SC, Peerless SC

30-Aug-2012: East Bengal Club - BNR RC
30-Aug-2012: Kalighat Milan Sangha - Peerless SC
31-Aug-2012: Prayag United SC - George Telegraph SC
31-Aug-2012: Aryan Club - Railway FC
03-Sep-2012: East Bengal Club - Army XI
03-Sep-2012: BNR RC - Eastern Railway SC
06-Sep-2012: Prayag United SC - Peerless SC
06-Sep-2012: Aryan Club - BNR RC
06-Sep-2012: Army XI - Railway FC
06-Sep-2012: Kalighat Milan Sangha - Eastern Railway SC

Group B
Mohun Bagan AC, Mohammedan Sporting Club, Bhawanipore Club, Calcutta Port Trust, Tollygunge Agragami, Police AC, Southern Samity, West Bengal Police, Kalighat Club

29-Aug-2012: Mohun Bagan AC - West Bengal Police
01-Sep-2012: Mohammedan Sporting Club - Bhawanipore Club
01-Sep-2012: Calcutta Port Trust - Tollygunge Agragami
02-Sep-2012: Mohun Bagan AC - Kalighat Club
04-Sep-2012: Tollygunge Agragami - Police AC
07-Sep-2012: Mohammedan Sporting Club - Police AC
07-Sep-2012: Calcutta Port Trust - Southern Samity
07-Sep-2012: West Bengal Police - Kalighat Club

Pailan Group to sponsor Bengal Youth Development program

The Pailan Group, the partners and sponsors of the AIFF's Developmental side, the renamed Pailan Arrows will now also support the development of Bengal youth football. At a press conference at the Bengal Club in Kolkata yesterday it was announced that the Pailan Group would sponsor the Indian Football Association (West Bengal) youth development program.

The IFA is happy to be able to sign a sponsorship deal worth Rs 1 crore per years with the Pailan Group for its youth development program which will include the IFA Residential Academy (under-15 & U-19), the IFA district camps, the school football tournament - the Bankim Cup and the Under-19 Bengal state team.

For the IFA the support of the Pailan Group will hopefully enable it to develop Bengal football and especially young talent which over the years has dried-up with the big clubs able to attract Indian talent from across the country.

Present on the occasion of the announcement of the deal were AIFF and IFA vice-president Subrata Dutta, IFA honorary secretary Utpal Ganguli and Pailan Group chairman Apurba Saha besides others.

IFA announce Calcutta Premier Division fixtures

The Indian Football Association (West Bengal) today released the first fixtures list for the 2012/13 season of the Calcutta Premier Division which will see 19 teams in action, two more then last season and they have been divided into two group - Group A with 10 teams, Group B with nine teams.

The Calcutta Premier Division kicks-off on Thursday, August 16 with three matches: Army XI vs BNR, Peerless SC vs Railway FC, and Kalighat Milan Sangha vs George Telegraph SC.

In Group A defending champions East Bengal Club take on Prayag United SC, Techno Aryan Club, Army XI, Kalighat Milan Sangha, Railway FC, BNR, George Telegraph SC, Eastern Railway SC and Peerless SC; while in Group B Mohun Bagan AC face Mohammedan Sporting Club, Bhawanipore Club, Calcutta Port Trust, Tollygunge Agragami, Police AC, Southern Samity, West Bengal Police and Kalighat Club.


FIXTURES

Group A
16-Aug-2012: Army XI - BNR
16-Aug-2012: Peerless SC - Railway FC
16-Aug-2012: Kalighat Milan Sangha - George Telegraph SC
17-Aug-2012: East Bengal Club - Eastern Railway SC
19-Aug-2012: Peerless SC - Army XI
19-Aug-2012: Kalighat Milan Sangha - Railway FC
19-Aug-2012: Aryan Club - George Telegraph SC
22-Aug-2012: Aryan Club - Eastern Railway SC
24-Aug-2012: Prayag United SC - BNR
25-Aug-2012: East Bengal Club - Kalighat Milan Sangha
25-Aug-2012: George Telegraph SC - Railway FC
26-Aug-2012: Aryan Club - Peerless SC
28-Aug-2012: Prayag United SC - Eastern Railway SC

Group B
16-Aug-2012: Bhowanipore Club - West Bengal Police
18-Aug-2012: Mohun Bagan AC - Southern Samity
18-Aug-2012: Calcutta Port Trust - Police AC
18-Aug-2012: Tollygunge Agragami - Kalighat Club
22-Aug-2012: Mohammedan Sporting Club - Calcutta Port Trust
22-Aug-2012: Police AC - Kalighat Club
22-Aug-2012: West Bengal Police - Tollygunge Agragami
23-Aug-2012: Bhowanipore Club - Southern Samity
26-Aug-2012: Mohun Bagan AC - Tollygunge Agragami
26-Aug-2012: Southern Samity - Police AC
26-Aug-2012: Calcutta Port Trust - West Bengal Police
27-Aug-2012: Mohammedan Sporting Club - Kalighat Club

IFA finds Tolgay guilty of misconduct, imposes huge fine

After weeks of uncertainly the Indian Football Association (West Bengal) Players' Status Committee has given its verdict in the Tolgay Ozbey case. The committee found the Australian striker guilty of professional misconduct and he has been asked to pay one month's salary and a fine of Rs 500,000 (5 lakh) in order to get a formal release from East Bengal Club.

The IFA Players' Status Committee has given both sides 72 hours to respond to the order otherwise it would be null and void. Both sides will consult lawyers before getting back to the IFA.

The IFA took this decision because they say it is proven that Tolgay first wanted to stay with East Bengal and then signed for archrivals Mohun Bagan, which is the cause for this whole transfer confusion.

To end the matter Tolgay has been asked to pay one month's salary (US$ 18,450, last seasons monthly salary) to East Bengal Club via the IFA and send a letter of apology to both his former club and the IFA after which East Bengal will have to return the token.

Further the IFA will fine Tolgay Ozbey of Rs 500,000 which would go to the IFA players benevolent fund.

East Bengal Club on their side have been asked to withdraw the case against the Australian at a Kolkata civil court and return the token to the parent body.

If both sides agree, then Tolgay would be a free players and could then sign for Mohun Bagan; but as this whole story has unfolded there might be more twists and turns waiting to happen before it finally ends.

VIDEO: N.P. Sarbadhikari - Father of Indian football

Here an interesting piece by fellow journalist Prosun Biswas for a Bengali news channel on Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari, who is regarded as the 'Father of Indian football'.

Do we today actually know who this man was? Do we know what he did for Indian football? And do the formal bodies give him the credit he deserves for what he has done?

The report is in Bengali

Calcutta Premier Division: New Format & more teams

The Indian Football Association (West Bengal) has released the new format for the 2012/13 season of the Calcutta Premier Division which will see 19 teams in action, two more then last season and they have been divided these into two group - Group A with 10 teams, Group B with nine teams. The league is set to kick-off in August.

The IFA has decided to split the Kolkata big four - East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, Prayag United and Mohammedan Sporting - into the two groups. All teams in both groups play each other twice before five teams from Group A and four from Group B qualify for the championship round in which again all teams will face each other once, while the other 10 teams play the relegation as a round robin league with the bottom team relegated. The points from the preliminary round are not carried forward though cards will be carried forward.

In a step backwards the IFA has decided to abolish the rule of having to fielding one Under-19 footballer by each team in the Calcutta Premier Division. As a replacement the IFA is creating an Under-19 League for Calcutta Premier Division teams, which will make it mandetory for all participating sides to have such an U-19 team with players only registered with the club as they no longer will be allowed to take players on loan.


The GROUPS

Group A
East Bengal Club, Prayag United SC, Techno Aryan Club, Army XI, Kalighat Milan Sangha, Railway FC, BNR, George Telegraph SC, Eastern Railway SC, Peerless SC

Group B
Mohun Bagan AC, Mohammedan Sporting Club, Bhawanipore Club, Calcutta Port Trust, Tollygunge Agragami, Police AC, Southern Samity, West Bengal Police, Kalighat Club

VIDEO: IFA Medical Unit Story follow-up

A few days ago I posted the interesting and investigate piece by fellow journalist Prosun Biswas for a Bengali news channel on the erstwhile medical unit of the Indian Football Association (West Bengal) which used to be based at the Eden Gardens, but after renovation work disappeared. Now he has done a follow-up piece on reactions regarding that story which does include my blog and what the doctors say about the old equipment lying to rot at the Saltlake Stadium.

The report is in Bengali




Here the link to the original report: VIDEO: IFA (West Bengal) medical unit disappearance .

VIDEO: IFA (West Bengal) medical unit disappearance

Fellow journalist Prosun Biswas did this interesting and investigate piece for a Bengali news channel on the erstwhile medical unit of the Indian Football Association (West Bengal) which used to be based at the Eden Gardens. It was mainly intended for footballers playing on the Kolkata Maidans, but since the renovation of Eden Gardens ahead of the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup the office and the medical equipment had to removed and since then the medical unit has no home with the equipment lying at the Saltlake Stadium to rot.

The report is in Bengali

Yamaha ASEAN Under-13 Cup: Michael Nagar Netaji Sangha are champions!

The Under-13 boys of Michael Nagar Netaji Sangha are the champions of the second Indian edition of the Yamaha ASEAN Under-13 Cup organised by the Japanese bike maker in association with the Indian Football Association (West Bengal). The tournament was held with six youth teams from May 16 to 20 at the Mohammedan Sporting Club ground at the Kolkata Maidan.

Michael Nagar Netaji Sangha defeated Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee 3-2 in the final to be crowned Indian champions of the Yamaha ASEAN Under-13 Cup. Ashraful Ali Mondal of Michael Nagar Netaji Sangha was adjudged the Best Player of the tournament.

The Indian champions, Michael Nagar Netaji Sangha, would represent the India Yamaha Motor football team at the fourth Yamaha ASEAN Cup U-13 Football Finals to be held in Malaysia from July 13 to 15. In total six teams from India, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and two from hosts Malaysia will compete for the trophy.


FIXTURES & RESULTS

Group A
16-May-2012: Samannoy, Kasba 0-2 Michael Nagar Netaji Sangha
16-May-2012: Michael Nagar Netaji Sangha 3-0 Baranagar Sporting Club
17-May-2012: Baranagar Sporting Club 0-5 Samannoy, Kasba

Group B
16-May-2012: Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee 2-0 Santosh Club, Belgharia
16-May-2012: Santosh Club, Belgharia 1-0 Bagnan Ratna Sangha
17-May-2012: Bagnan Ratna Sangha 1-1 Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee

Semifinals
18-May-2012: Michael Nagar Netaji Sangha 11-10 Santosh Club, Belgharia [penalties]
18-May-2012: Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee 1-0 Samannoy, Kasba

3rd Place Playoff
20-May-2012: Santosh Club, Belgharia 1-2 Samannoy, Kasba

Final
20-May-2012: Michael Nagar Netaji Sangha 3-2 Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee

East Bengal win Calcutta Premier Division title!

Kolkata giants East Bengal Club have won the 2011/12 Calcutta Premier Division title on the last match day of the championship round with a 6-0 demolition of Mohammedan Sporting Club at the Saltlake Stadium, while archrivals Mohun Bagan suffered a 0-2 loss against Prayag United SC in Siliguri. East Bengal defended their title 24 points fro 10 matches.

Mohammedan Sporting were no match for the red-and-gold whose hero of the day was Australian Tolgay Ozbey with four goals in the 13th, 31st, 40th and 56th minute. Youngster Seiminlen Doungel added another in the 65th minute before Nigerian Penn Ikechukwu Orji rounded off the tennis-like 6-0 score in the 77th minute.

Thereafter it was party-time for East Bengal Club winning their 33rd Calcutta Football League title, but it didn't last too long as four goal striker Tolgay Ozbey later in the day officially was unveiled as a new Mohun Bagan players for the new season.

Matters got even worse then coach Trevor Morgan, only on Saturday crowned as the FPAI Coach of the Year, resigned in the evening being unhappy the way club officials were handling the transfers. But the club hopes to convince the coach, who has a year to run on his contract, to stay with the red-and-gold.

PLS: Foreign Players & Coaches left in the dark

At the 2012 Soccerex European Forum in Manchester with India being on the agenda, one topic which I and other attendees from India got asked again and again is what is the latest on the Premier League Soccer.

With no one from the Indian Football Association (West Bengal) nor Celebrity Management Group present it was difficult to answer with more and more questions raised about the PLS and its future. Some European journalist have actually written that the PLS will never see the day of light. Tough judgement, but as I would suggest to wait and watch.

These developments has foreign marquee players and coaches worried. Some had actually left good contracts to join the PLS and they are in trouble. In Manchester I bumped into Peter Reid and John Barnes, who both currently not know if they will shift to West Bengal to coach in the PLS.

Former Liverpool star John Barnes actually asked me rather then me him what I think about the current situation then I gathered from our conversation that he is feeling sceptical about the situation though still very much interested to come to India.

"First it was to start in February, then March, then April and now they are saying maybe as late as November," said a worried John Barnes. "I don't know what will happen."

The other thing that both coaches said, which Robbie Fowler had tweeted about is that the foreign coaches and players are not kept updated and informed on what is happening with the PLS, if anything at all.

This all is surely not something the organising IFA and CMG will like to hear, but they need to keep their star attractions better informed or otherwise if the delayed PLS kicks-off might have to play without them.

The media abroad who had written a lot of positive things about the PLS earlier in the year have been alerted about the continued problems and once they start writing about it, the PLS and Indian football has a problem.

PLS kick-off to be further delayed

The inaugural season of the Premier League Soccer in West Bengal is set for its third postponement with the organising Indian Football Association (West Bengal) and the Celebrity Management Group facing problems with the Government of West Bengal regarding the six venues and as they cannot get hold of these they also cannot carry out necessary up-gradation work to make the stadia ready for the PLS to start.

The original plan had been to start the PLS, the IPL-style football league, in the last week of February, then the third week of March had been envisaged for the start of the new franchise-based league, but then it got further pushed back to April. Now even the start next month has been ruled out by the IFA and CMG as fundamental issues still remain to be cleared.

The organisers have not given a new kick-off date for the PLS, but it is clear that it now will start in the second half of the year. Surely it will not happen in May, June or July due to the summer heat. The earliest start as per statements from the organisers could be late-August once the next international transfer period is ongoing.

But as I stated in the The Hindu - Business Line on Thursday, I personally feel that the PLS can most likely not start before November then in August/September the rainy season is active across Bengal and then comes the festive season with Durga Puja, Kali Puja and Diwali.

How this delay will effect the PLS, the franchises and their foreign players will have to be seen. Maybe a new auction of foreign players and coaches would have to be carried out if those auctioned in January pull out, but first the PLS needs to find suitable dates and freeze those. Otherwise the reputation of the league will go down the drains and the hype around it will be die down with no ball kicked.

PLS Season One not in danger of cancellation

The inaugural season of the Premier League Soccer in West Bengal is not in danger of being cancelled and postponed to 2013. That is one of the rumours that has been making the rounds since the IFA (WB) and CMG had to announce that the start of the league was postponed for a second time due to unavoidable circumstances.

The stakes are high. A massive hype has been created around the PLS not only in India but across the world with extensive international coverage on Indian football, which is rather unknown. All this is so due to the fact that stars like Cannavaro, Crespo, Fowler, etc are part of the new start-up league which has been dubbed the football-IPL. And the IPL is even known in non-Cricket nations - not for its results, but what the league has achieved having been started from scratch.

The PLS was postponed for a second time due to venue issues which the organisers are currently sorting out with the Government of West Bengal as are other logistical issues, so the league can run smoothly without any issues once it starts.

The IFA Honorary Secretary Utpal Kumar Ganguli has given his assurances that all will be sorted soon and the revised dates of the inaugural season of the PLS will be held, like third week of April until first week of June.

Meanwhile Robbie Fowler seems to be back amongst the PLS players as his latest tweet said:

Breaking news.. India not cancelled, just postponed, still on the cards.. We'll see

So all isn't bad, but as is typical in Indian sports postponement are part-and-parcel of it. In that sense PLS is no different...

Robbie Fowler opts out of PLS through Twitter

Former Liverpool FC striker Robbie Fowler has decided not wait for the launch of the Premier League Soccer in West Bengal as he doubts the professionalism of the organisers. That is at least what the 35 year old Robert Bernard Fowler made public through his official Twitter account.

Robbie Fowler tweeted in the afternoon

Ah well.. India looks like its cancelled, boots are clean and looking for a new place to play.. #professionalnotamateur

Earlier Fowler had tweeted a reply to a Liverpool fan

India still on cards but gone very quiet.... So , who knows

This surely isn't a positive sign for the IFA (West Bengal) and CMG in organising the PLS, if one of the stars of the league opts out due to the delay which is not special in Indian football, but it won't be accepted by ageing international football stars.

Fowler, who has played 26 times for England, had been signed by Kolkata Camelians in the auction for USD 530,000. Now it will be interesting to see what organisers and franchise do to replace Fowler, who through his Tweets has made it clear that he won't play in the PLS.

PLS faces further problems & delay

The Premier League Soccer in West Bengal is facing further problems. This time around they are infrastructure problems forcing the organisers Indian Football Association (West Bengal) and Celebrity Management Group to postpone the launch of the inaugural season indefinitely. The PLS season one was supposed to be played from March 24 to May 6, which was already a delay by about a month from the original dates.

Now the PLS organisers are facing a problem with the West Bengal Department of Sports regarding the six stadiums in Kolkata, Barasat, Howrah, Siliguri, Durgapur and Haldia. The West Bengal government has indicated that some of the venues are booked for other events during those dates, while the department also doubts that the venues would be ready in a few weeks to host such a high profile event.

This means that the PLS could be postponed by another three to four weeks to get things sorted and organised, which means a potential start in the third week of April and finish in the first week of June. Surely the PLS would have to finish before Euro2012 which starts on June 8.

If the PLS organisers are not able to get the wanted dates, then they will consider shifting the tournament to another state. Maharashtra and Kerala have shown interest to host the tournament, but it is the last option for the organisers to get the league off the ground.

All these problems follow the uncertainly if the star-studded PLS would be cleared by the All India Football Federation a few days ago.