Bruno Coutinho
The Goa Professional League is set to begin in August and with that the football season in Goa will begin. With three clubs in the I-league awaiting the AIFF decision on how to chart a new league where teams from the I-league and ISL can play together, the focus till the month of July is going to be on what AIFF decides to do with football in India. Till then all we can do is wait.
It is too early to go into the pros and cons of what is going to happen to football or what may happen. A lot of things will happen because, whether we like it or not, football is a game that does not need anyone. Football does not go to people, it is the other way round and that is why, the game will surely not suffer.
Let us imagine if the AIFF decision goes against what the three clubs – Salgaocar, Dempo and Sporting – are looking forward to. What they want is that merit should not make way to pay and participate. Our pay and park is not working here, how will it work in football?
If the teams pull out, hopefully, it will benefit the GPL.
With the start of the ISL, the GPL wore a neglected look. The look came about because the three main teams in Goa used to loan their players to ISL teams and the ISL used to happen when the GPL was being held. Good Goan and Indian talent were unable to play for their teams in the GPL and the contest started turning lopsided.
The GPL last season had six teams in the shine. Churchill Brothers, Vasco SC and Tuff Laxmi were the other teams that managed to draw some crowd to the stadium. Tuff Laxmi decided to pull out and FC Bardez has come in. Tuff had a good crowd following and we will have to see how FC Bardez go about their business of attracting a fan crowd.
Attracting fans takes time. A team needs not only good players but a winning mindset. FC Bardez have roped in Armando Colaco and in a way their start appears to be positive. A lot needs to be seen in terms of the age group of players they rope in and how they manage to sustain these players. The younger will always be better.
The player’s line up of teams is still not ready and that is because the players as well as the teams are unaware of the judgement of the two Appeals Committees. If favourable, most players will be plucked up. If not, many players will look at teams like Dempo, Salgaocar, Sporting and FC Bardez.
This indecision has already affected football because the bargaining power of players has diminished. It has been reported that around 16 Goan football players are yet to find a team in the ISL or the teams from Goa. Reports suggest that some ISL players have already started signing for Goan teams and some Goan players have already moved to Kolkata to join their teams for the leagues out there.
I have no idea how much local clubs are going to spend on Goan players this season. Hopefully it all ends well. Something tells me that the GPL can offer some excitement to the fans in Bardez. This will be good provided the GFA sticks to the schedule it draws and does not go about postponing matches for any reason. The GFA has to be strict and avoid postponements. The system of letting teams settle whether a match can be postponed is not good for football. It irritates fans and the fan is the boss in football.