67th Santosh Trophy: Maharashtra name final 20 players squad

The Western India Football Association (Maharashtra) has named 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.

Former Indian international N.P. Pradeep has been named captain of the Maharashtra team which also includes another ex-international in Mohammed Rafi, who both are from Kerala and hope that they team makes the quarterfinal group stage in their home state.

The Maharashtra state teams is mainly made-up of players from the Mumbai league with a few district players also making the squad which has caused some controversy about the Mumbai-based player.

Maharashtra have been drawn in Group C alongside hosts Uttar Pradesh and Mizoram with the matches to be played in Varanasi from February 12 onwards.


MAHARASHTRA

Goalkeepers
Rajib Miryla (Pune), Owais Khan(Nagpur)

Defenders
Oken Singh (Mumbai), Nisthar Kali Alaudeen (Mumbai), Ranjan Salam (Pune), Shabbir Ali Shaikh (Mumbai), Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep (Captain-Mumbai), Shakti Singh (Nagpur)

Midfielders
Sanjenban Sadanand (Mumbai), F. Lalrempuia (Pune), Zuber Mahaboob (Pune), Pahoon Biswas (Mumbai), Praneel Mendon (Mumbai), Francisco Salin (Mumbai), Mohd Rashid (Nagpur), Ajinkya Nalawade (Kolhapur), Sreekant Molangiri (Pune)

Forwards
M. Mohammed Rafi (Mumbai), Anas Ibnusalam (Mumbai), Bilal Ahmed (Jalgaon)

Standbyes
Shushant Bhivgade (Nagpur), Francisco Domnic (Mumbai), Raviraj Kurne (Pune), Ilyas Koya (Mumbai), Abilash Paul (Pune)

Officials
Faruk Ahmed (Coach), Ashok Yadav (Assistant Coach), Abdul Qadeer (Goalkeeping Coach)

AIFF ExCo appoints Armando Colaco as interim coach, other decisions

The Executive Committee of the All India Football Federation met at Football House in Dwarka, New Delhi today with its president Praful Patel presiding over the meeting. Also in attendence where General Secretary Kushal Das, the vice-presidents Subrata Dutta, Joaquim Alemao, Ankur Dutta and other members of the ExCo.

The Committee unanimously decided on the following topics:

1. Armando Colaco has been appointed as Team India's interim coach for four months. He will be in charge of the team for the 2014 FIFA World Cup - Asian qualifiers and the international Friendlies that have already been fixed up.

2. It has been decided to host India's 2014 FIFA World Cup - Asian qualifier against the UAE at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. The match is slated for July 28.

3. The Committee ratified the decision to stick to the 3+1 format as far as foreign recruits in the I-League are concerned.

4. Furthermore, the Committee has referred the case of suspended Shillong Lajong FC player -- Saikhohao Tuboi -- to the Players Status Committee which is slated to meet on May 27.

5. The Committee gave its consent to Team India's Friendly matches (Olympic Under-23 Team) against Pakistan subject to clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

6. The Committee agreed that it is critical to appoint a Technical Director at the earliest to assist in the Development Programme and appointment of Coaches.

7. The President also congratulated Shillong Lajong FC and Sporting Clube de Goa for qualifying for next season's I-League. Both the teams, however, would have to meet the AFC Club Licensing criteria. The AFC Inspection Team is due to visit the two clubs on June 11/12.

8. The Committee also took the decision that efforts should be intensified to find a sponsor for the Indian Arrows team by May 31. In case no sponsor is found, a decision will be taken by the Emergency Committee about the future of the Arrows.

9. The Asian Football Confederation will conduct a workshop for I-League representatives in August and organise educational trips if necessary.

10. The proposal to hold the final phase of the 2nd Division League on a Home-and-Away basis has been referred to the Advisory Group on Competitions. The Advisory Group would also take a final decision on the participation of I-League Players in the local leagues.

11. The Committee also decided that National Team midfielder N.P. Pradeep should publish an advertisement in a National Daily (all editions -- at his own cost) making a disclaimer that he has not posted any derogatory comments on any Social Networking Website and also apologise for any disregard caused to the AIFF and its officials.

12. The Committee will request Doordarshan for the live telecast of the semifinal and the final of the 65th Santosh Trophy currently being played in Assam.

Pradeep & Abranches now also face trouble

First it was Sunil Chhetri for his tweets in support of Bob Houghton, now other internationals in N.P. Pradeep and Joaquim Abranches are set to get in trouble with the AIFF after voicing their disagreement in the sacking of Bob Houghton.

After the AIFF said it would discuss at its next Executive Committee meeting Chhetri's anti-federation tweets, which factually can't be proven; they now they have a bigger issue to deal with as many players who have played under Bob Houghton have come out in support of their former coach and voiced their displeasure at his removal.

It starts with captain Baichung Bhutia, goes on with Arjuna Awardee Deepak Mondal, 'AIFF Player of the Year' Gouramangi Singh, goalkeeper Subrata Pal, winger Syed Rahim Nabi and so on....

But two players could be in real trouble as they openly criticized the federation fr their decision regarding Bob Houghton. While Dempo midfielder Joaquim Abranches did so in a newspaper interview, N.P. Pradeep did it on Facebook. And the Viva Kerala midfielder did go over the top as he used in his Facebook post the f-word against the federation and its officials.

All this highlights that the federation and their players are currently not on the best of terms with new media being something where freedom of speech/expression is easier said then done these days. If a Code of Conduct for the players will change things will have to be seen, then the federation needs to sit down with the players and discuss with them their thought and feelings, then both sides need to work together in the interest of Indian football.