Playing football on Iraq's minefield

I guess the Indian football federation or their bosses at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) should be aware of Iraq's current situation. You don't have to be an elderly statesman to know what is Iraq today. You sit in Geneva or at Kuala Lumpur or even in Delhi, everybody is aware of Iraq's current political turmoil.

But I would like to know if AIFF or any of the AFC officials have recently been to the strife-torn nation. It's not an exotic hot sea beach of Mauritius or an expedition to Masai Mara. Iraq is all about a terror-filled nation. Killings, bombings continue to hit hard. I guess, the football officials would definitely skip even a sponsored tour to Iraq. Then why send some innoncent young footballers to Iraq particularly after the countinuous upsurge in violence in recent years. Why did they shift India's Group C matches to Iraq? Is it all about football promotion or ensuring a 'genuine' vote for the next AFC elections.

Is it a sheer lack of vision or a deliberate attempt to promote football in a country where gun-totting US security forces are a common sight? And AFC talks about playing football on a minefield. Post Saddam Hussein, suicide bombers and explosions have become too common. Iraq has become the next Aghanistan and Pakistan. Maybe, even a bit more scary and volatile. Definitely you cannot put these teams including India on the gallows because you never know which way the suicide bombers will chase you. Be it Mosul, Baghdad or even Arbil (where the AFC U-19 Championship's Group C matches will be played) violence and killings have become a regular sight in this West Asian nation.

Besides last Sunday's twin suicide bombings in Baghdad, which left at least 155 people dead, are playing on the players' minds. Arbil, the venue of the AFC event, lies 80km east of Mosul in north Iraq and it is the capital of the Kurdistan Autonomous Region and Kurdistan Regional Government. The attacks were the deadliest in Iraq in two years. No wonder, the young Indian footballers are scared.

The very fact of playing their qualifying matches in Iraq has terrified the Indian team, who are caught in a web of fear and anxiety. India have been drawn with Afghanistan, Iraq, Oman, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in AFC U-19 qualifiers.
The Indian players, who are currently on a tour to Dubai, are terrified. They just don't want to travel to Iraq. It is quite risky. But it's difficult to convince the AIFF and AFC mandarins who are just too excited to promote the game in Iraq.

Has football administrators become cheap?

It didn't surprise anyone. Not even me. That Mr Praful Patel won't be announcing the dates for the already pending interviews of those who had already applied for secretary and CEO posts. It's been three months now. Once again, Mr Alberto Colaco has been given an extension till December. While some say it has been deliberately done because of political pressure, others still hope that the dates will come out soon. Whatever the reasons may be, it was not what we all had waited to beat Delhi's evening traffic and reach on time at the IRDA Complex.
It seems that the media and the entire football fraternity has been fooled by AIFF mandarins. Why the AIFF's Executive Committee keep pushing the interview dates, I still fail to understand. Well, I guess it is all about the murky politics that is being played inside the corner rooms of Football House.
Just before the AGM and Ex Co meeting on Oct 20, important officials were given cushy assignments like foreign tours. While others have been asked to wait. It has been designed to perfection. Nothing can beat this game. Give any member a foreign tour. Make them managers of the Indian team or Delegation Head (???), they would be happy to serve you.
The power, the importance of being AIFF secretary definitely holds a lot of importance. So it was not surprising to find that Mr Colaco (who I knew as an easy going, soft spoken and an affable person when I met him first in 1998 in Goa when he was GFA secretary) will pull all the strings just to retain the post. But then Mr Colaco why don't you leave the Football House gracefully rather than hang around with people around want you to bid goodbye. Someone should tell him and make him understand that world is too small a place and AIFF is only a small portion of it. Has anyone told him that he cannot hold on to two different posts?
Now that he has been elected as SAFF secretary, it would be better (ethically) if he vacates the AIFF secretary's seat rather than take favours from the spineless Executive Committee members most of whom are already senior citizens turned Machiavelli. So just like a pilgrimage tour, these senior citizens (Ex Co members) wait for their turn. It may be not be a Haj or a visit to the Kashi and Badrinath. But definitely more colourful tours where you get to see the unseen world.
Has football administrators become cheap?