VIDEO: Dempo's Aniston Fernandes confident after Denmark stint

Aniston Fernandes is preparing with his Dempo Junior team mates for the Under-20 I-League starting next week in Jamshedpur. After his training stint last year with Danish side FC Midtjylland's Academy along with Myron Fernandes, Aniston is feeling confident that he is able to perform to the desired levels.

VIDEO: Srinivas Dempo speaks about Shahrukh Khan's interest

Dempo SC chairman Srinivas Dempo speaks on Goan TV channel Goa365 about his football team and the interest from Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan. What makes this interview so interesting is the fact that Srinivas Dempo highlights that the deal is not as close as others in the media have reported and that details would have to be worked out. So lets wait and see what happens...

Shahrukh Khan to buy 50% Dempo SC stake?

Bollywood Superstar Shahrukh Khan after finally winning Cricket's Indian Premier League title with his franchise the Kolkata Knight Riders last Sunday could now be on the verge of buying a 50% stake in Indian football club Dempo SC. The rumour has been doing rounds for a few days, but now after the Economic Times went public with the story earlier today there have been numerous reports across the Indian media and large interest about this on social media too.

Shahrukh Khan is said to be interested to buy a 50% stake in Goan football team Dempo Sports Clubs for Rs 300 Million (30 crores), but he is not the only interested party in the stake as Dempo secretary-cum-coach Armando Colaco told IANS, "Shah Rukh has shown interest in Dempo. Talks are still going on and it will take some time to finalise the deal. The modalities are yet to be worked out."

Dempo SC are currently the most successful Indian football club having won five of the last eight I-League/NFL titles, their chairman Srinivas Dempo along with the people running the club have had a vision to professionalize things at the club over the last 10 to 12 years.

Last year Dempo bought a 34% stake in Danish Superliga side FC Midtjylland for 12 Million Euros to get technical know-how and create an avenue for talented Indian footballers into Europe. Further Dempo's are considering plans to rename the club after their home town of Panaji to create a bigger connect besides working on plans for an own stadium and training facilities.

If Shahrukh came on board it would not only help Dempo SC to grow as a brand, but Indian football as a whole then someone with the stature of Shahrukh would ensure extensive media coverage and surely he would work towards co-operation between Dempo SC and KKR.

But all this is future talk, first a deal needs to be struck and then signed between Dempo's and Shahrukh before all work can start then numerous Bollywood celebrities have shown interest in Indian football over the last few years, but nothing ever happened in the end.

This brings me back to something Shahrukh Khan had told me in 2004 post a press conference in Düsseldorf, Germany that he one day would surely invest in Indian football, then football besides hockey is close to his heart but sometimes decisions have to be taken from a business angle rather then an emotional connect. If he does buy a stake in Dempo's then all he said eight years ago would come true...

I-League: Champions Dempo to receive Trophy tomorrow

The All India Football Federation will tomorrow present the 2011/12 I-League Champions Trophy to newly crowned champions Dempo SC at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. The Trophy along with a large Cheque would be presented to the Goan team after the final whistle of their last I-League match against Prayag United SC this season.

As a special gesture, the Prayag United players would also present a Guard of Honour to champions Dempo SC for winning their fifth NFL/I-League in the last eight years.

Currently it is not known who will attend from the AIFF and the Indian Football Association (West Bengal), but it is expected that Dempo SC chairman and Goa Football Association president Srinivas Dempo will be in attendance.

I-League 2011/12: Dempo champions, regain the title!

Goans Dempo SC held Kolkata giants East Bengal Club in an I-League match at the Nehru Stadium to ensure their historic fifth I-League/NFL title in eight years. The draw took Dempo to 54 points from 25 matches while East Bengal moved to 45 points from 24 matches and ended the red-and-golds hopes of regaining the I-League title.

While Dempo knew that a draw would be enough for them, East Bengal needed the three points to stay in the hunt for the title and accordingly coach Trevor Morgan fielded a three man attack in Tolgay Ozbey, Robin Singh and Edmilson Marques Pardal. East Bengal had more from the match, but they couldn't score of their chances.

East Bengal's best chance of the first session fell to Brazilian striker Edmilson in the 30th minute when goalkeeper Subhashish Roy Chowdhury's ball intended for defender Cressan Antao was snatched by Edmilson but with only the goalie to beat he shockingly picked-up the side post. Australian Tolgay was also presented with a good opportunity but the striker could not give finishing touches to a brilliant through ball from Mehtab Hussain.

There was some controversy in injury time of the first half when Tolgay was brought down by Rowilson Rodrigues, but the referee saw it otherwise and even booked Tolgay for allegedly diving.

After the break Dempo stood deeper allowing East Bengal more of the possession, but kept them away from their goal and didn't allow them too many chances. The best of the session came from substitute Sanju Pradhan, whose intended cross suddenly dipped goalwards just hitting the top netting and thereafter once more Edmilson missed an golden opportunity as his header just went wide of the target.

Dempo mainly relied on counter-attacks which didn't bring any result. Their best chance came off a Ranty Martins Soleye free-kick which hit the crossbar.

It was party time after the final whistle for Dempo's, but they still have to play their last match against Kolkata's Prayag United SC at the Saltlake Stadium on May 5 and there they would be presented the Champions Trophy and a cheque of Rs 7 Million (70 lakhs).

VIDEO: Srinivas Dempo speaks about Goa FA decisions

The president of the Goa Football Association Srinivas Dempo yesterday spoke to the media about decision of the GFA about organisation of I-League matches in the state, regarding venues and a visit of the Zambian national team to Goa in November.

Here a link to the video

Dempo Group buys stake in Danish club FC Midtjylland

In April 2011 Goan giants Dempo SC entered into a partnership with Danish Superliga side FC Midtjylland to develop its young elite players, but also work on the overall development of the club. Now that tie-up is set to become much more with the Dempo Group buying a 34 percent stake in the Danish club to strengthen their ties in the interest of Dempo SC and Indian football.



A release from FC Midtjylland said, "Leading Goa-based Indian industrial group, Dempo, with interests in soccer promotion has effected a Share Subscription Agreement with prominent professional Danish soccer club and academy, FC Midtjylland, based in Herning and Ikast."



Dempo Group will make an investment of around 12 Million Euros (approximately Rs 80 crore) to take a 34 percent stake in the clubs parent company FC Midtjylland Holdings AS with an Indian presence on the board of the club.



"The investment marks the moment when intent turned into commitment. It's kick-off time for the Dempo foray into truly international football. Our agreement is aimed at raising the playing standard of Indian soccer, and this tie-up with a first-rate European academy and team shall spur the development of the game even faster," said Dempo Group chairman, Srinivas Dempo.



Soren Bach, CEO of FC Midtjylland, said: "It's a historic day for FC Midtjylland and the start of a new era for the club. The agreement enables us to add value to the continuity of our soccer team and retain our own playing talent longer. We can enhance the level of talent development, and begin truly to internationalise the academy."



So far the technical partnership between the two sides has been very fruitful with the Dempo SC technical staff impressed by the infrastructure and technical expertise available at FC Midtjylland.



Now Dempo's will want to utilise all this knowledge and manpower to make their club Dempo SC a real professional outfit and enable talented, young Indian boys to get into Europe at a young age to develop as professional footballers, which hopefully will also help Indian football to develop further.

Goa FA's search on for paid General Secretary

The new Executive Committee of the Goa Football Association met for the first time yesterday with president Srinivas Dempo chairing the meeting. One of the pressing issues which the new committee couldn't solve is the appointment of the first full-time, paid General Secretary of the GFA. The GFA had published the vacancy in Goan newspapers with an advertisement, but the replies don't seem to have been up to the level needed to run football in the coastal state. The executive committee has decided to give the search for a new General Secretary three month as per the new constitution of the GFA while complies with the AIFF, AFC and FIFA.

The potential candidates would be interviewed by an independent panel which would consist of the GFA president himself Srinivas Dempo (Dempo SC), Shivanand Salgaocar (Salgaocar SC), Peter Vaz (Sporting Clube de Goa), a representative of Churchill Brothers SC (either Churchill Alemao or his brother Joaquim Alemao) and representatives of other major clubs.

In the meantime Alvarinho Pinho will continue to be the acting Secretary of the GFA until the new paid General Secretary can take over. But insiders say the search is turning out to be much more difficult then expected. Maybe the Goa FA should consider looking outside the state for suitable candidates who could run and professionalize the working of the GFA.

In other good news for Goan football, the GFA Executive Committee gave its clearance for installation of artificial turf at the Duler Ground in Mapusa. This means that the GFA can sign an MoU with the AIFF and FIFA to get the artificial turf installed at the venue.

Srinivas Dempo new Goa FA president

Dempo Group of Companies chairman, Srinivas Dempo, was yesterday elected as the new president of the Goa Football Association. In the vote for president Mr. Dempo won 85 to 75 against Peter Vaz, the president of Sporting Clube de Goa, after a long and hard fought election campaign, unseen in Goan football. Mr. Dempo has been elected as president for four years under the new constitution of the Goa FA, which complies with the statues of the All India Football Federation and the Asian Football Confederation.

The general elections held at Hotel Mandovi in Panaji with all 160 GFA registered clubs attending and casting their votes, a first in the history of Goan football. It was a high voltage affair, but in the end Mr. Dempo prevailed with a margin of only 10 votes. But the elections did throw-up some surprises as not all persons were elected who were favoured by the winning presidents faction plus new faces have made the governing body to hopefully infuse some fresh blood into the GFA.

Lavinio Rebello was elected vice-president from North Goa, while Elvis Gomes won the elections of vice-president from South Goa. The 14 member executive committee will be made-up of winners from the four zones. They are Schubert Furtado, Benjamin Silva, Anthony Pango, Benedicto Bishut Temudo (all Salcete); Lawrence Gomes, Prakash Naik, Savio Messias (all Mormugao); Babli Mandrekar, Alirio Lobo, Uday Lingudkar, Gajanand Kerkar (all Bardez); and Welwyn Menezes, Sanjiv Nagvekar, Anju Albuquerque (all Ilhas).

For Mr. Dempo and the whole new executive body there is loads of work ahead to take Goan football forward. And amongst the key issues will be the need address the infrastructure situation at the professional and amateur level, the reorganisation of inter-village football in the state and the further development of youth football. So be it the further development of Duler ground, the floodlights at the Nehru Stadium in Margao and the rebuilding of the Campal Stadium or the other issues, there is loads to be done.

And as one of the first steps a new paid General Secretary would have to be appointed to run football in the state. Outgoing honorary secretary Savio Messias is now an executive committee member.