AIFF and BCCI- A study in contrasts

We often hear that cricket occupies a large share of the Indian pie. We also hear that other sports need support at home. Although there is a large audience that follows football, why is it that there is little money in the sport? The events of the past few days show why football is languishing.

What happened to coach Igor Stimac will show why sponsors want to invest in Indian cricket and are aware of the image risks of investing in football. Yes, in cricket there is huge interest in who will be the Indian head coach. In Indian football, the Head Coach – read former head coach – and the AIFF are now embroiled in a bitter legal battle. While in cricket the BCCI has done things in the most professional manner and ditched the interviews with the coaches, giving Rahul Dravid his last hurray in the Caribbean, in football the AIFF had failed to bring Stimac to the table get for an amicable parting of ways. While one sport is in the pink health-wise, the other is a complete mess for lack of a better word.

That brings me to the players. Imagine you are Gurpreet Sandhu for a change and you succeed Sunil Chhetri as captain of the Indian team. What must be going through your mind right now? Would you like to finish the job or give up before you even start? Imagine you are a coach interested in the job in India. You will definitely be following what is currently going on between the AIFF and Stimac. Without taking sides, and I’m not interested in that, would you apply for a job with things as they are? And in all this, there is one loser: Indian football.

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In cricket, everyone is talking about the Super 8 match against Afghanistan during the ICC T20 World Cup. Can India go on and win the World Cup is the question being asked. In football, no one worries about when India’s next assignment is. And what is the future of the national team after a failed World Cup qualifying campaign. Instead, everyone is now eager to know when Stimac will take the AIFF to court and how they will address this issue? With a new Sports Minister (Mansukh Mandaviya) at the helm, I am sure he will have to see what is going on and intervene at some point.

In my thirty years as a sports reporter, I have never heard of a contract that did not include a termination clause. Imagine being told that I cannot fire an employee who is not good enough, because if I do, I have to pay him two years’ salary! Which employer would ever agree to such a contract and why? What were the compulsions to do this? What prompted AIFF to sign such a contract will forever remain a mystery. And it is this one clause that has now become a thorn in the side. If there had been an exit clause, Stimac could have been asked to part ways amicably.

He too would have no choice but to take the offered three months’ salary and walk away. But without an exit clause, he has the legal power to demand two years of compensation. Kick the ball back into the AIFF court and tell them he will sue them if they don’t pay within ten days. And that is where Indian football has lost. On issues of basic administrative efficiency. Those in power have failed the sport. The players and fans feel let down and have brought this situation upon themselves and the country. The only issue that matters now is to see how they (AIFF) can get out of this. That is, if they even succeed. Indian football is in dire need of help. Just hope it comes from somewhere.

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