http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1135143.cms
Breach in wall against AIFF diktatAdd to Clippings
SIDDHARTH SAXENA
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, JUNE 08, 2005 06:28:48 AM ]
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NEW DELHI: The campaign by the Goan and Kolkatan clubs to protest All
India Football Federation's (AIFF) proposal to ban foreign players from
all its domestic competition and the local leagues took a further blow
when in a sudden move, Goan powerhouse Salgaocar backtracked from the
united front saying that they were willing to comply with AIFF's dictum.
Salgaocar's move gains more significance, coming as it does, on the eve of
the AIFF Executive Committee meeting to decide on the controversial
proposal in the Capital on Wednesday.
What appears puzzling is that the turnaround comes less than a day after
the club had, in a meeting with the other seven professional clubs in the
state, staunchly agreed to the Goan clubs' stand against the move.
"On June 4, we received a letter from Salgaocar secretary, Mr Henry
Britto, saying that they were willing to comply with AIFF's proposals,"
Goa Football Association (GFA) secretary Savio Messias, told TOI on
Tuesday.
According to Messias, the letter further read: "Foreign players'
participation should be restricted to the National Football League,
Federation Cup and AFC Cup."
The GFA puts down Salgaocar's move to "some sort of arm-twisting," since
in the June 3 meeting of the Goan clubs, the club had apparently supported
the 'revolt' against the AIFF.
"The minutes of the meeting will prove this," said Messias, adding, "And
why should they do this when they themselves had three foreigners in the
Goa league."
When contacted, Britto told TOI: "We are basically company-owned clubs in
Goa and in a sense are not answerable to our fans unlike in Kolkata.
We have no problems playing the local league with our own local talent. We
are the only league in the country which had made it mandatory to include
two under-19 from the talukas where the club is based, so it becomes
self-defeating to include a foreigner for local tournaments."
