Kolkata, March 24 (IANS) Mohun Bagan will be without national captain Bhaichun Bhutia for their tie against Germany club Bayern Munich in Kolkata May 27.
Mohun Bagan will not only miss Bhaichung but some others also as the exhibition match is clashing with the national camp, starting in Goa March 30.
“The national camp starts in Goa on May 30 and so the players in the camp will have to miss the May 27 match. I don’t know how many players, it is for Chief Coach Bob Houghton to decide,” said All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi here Monday.
According to AIFF rules players wouldn’t be allowed to play for their clubs 14 days before and after the national camp and that rules out Bhaichung and others for the Bayern tie which will be legendry German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn’s last match.
Santosh Trophy is also clashing with the exhibition tie, raising doubts about the match being held at all. However, Dasmunsi said the match would be played come what may.
“The tie cannot be cancelled since its Oliver Kahn’s last match for Bayern. The match will be conducted by the Indian Football Association (IFA),” he said.
Dasmunshi, however, stated that there are certain guidelines for staging exhibition matches “as both Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and FIFA are very strict about following them.”
“First, the national associations of both the home and the visiting teams need to be intimated. Second, financial terms and conditions have to be transparent. Third, it should be stated whether the match is being organised for the purpose of charity, social cause or for commercial benefit,” Dasmunsi said.
Asked about Indian cricket board vice-presidents Lalit Modi’s remark in a television programme that he had approached AIFF with an idea similar to that of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) for football, Dasmunsi said: “Football in India will not follow the footsteps of cricket. Footballers have no chance of being auctioned. Football in India will develop in its own way. The game has just entered the professional stage and so it might take some time for further development.”
He also announced partnership arrangements with top English Premier League clubs Chelsea and Everton with two Indian clubs that could be a major boost. The name of the two Indian clubs would be revealed later, he said.
He also said that Hyderabad will host the AFC Challenge Cup and added that the Indian Under-17 side would travel to the US first and then might visit Portugal and Germany as part of its preparatory tour for the final round of the AFC Cup.
However, he claimed that the proposed football academy of 30 acres of land in Goa is well on its way and would be financed by the state government. “The matter will be finalised with Airtel within a day or two,” Dasmunsi claimed.