Aaditya Thackeray favourite for MDFA top post

Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray is the hot favourite to be elected as the Mumbai District Football Association president for the first time. Thackeray, who is the current chairman of football’s governing body in Mumbai, is likely to be promoted to the top post after the quadrennial MDFA elections on Saturday.

Thackeray was co-opted as the chairman after the elections in 2013 and has been praised for his work. His impressive work profile includes the renovation of the Mumbai Football Arena at Andheri Sports Complex. It not only brought international football back to the district after 61 years but also made it one of the favourite training venues for the senior national football team coach Stephen Constantine.

Over 300 clubs are affiliated to the MDFA, but only around 225 clubs who have cleared their dues are eligible for voting.

“A total 37 members are contesting, and among them, 27 will be elected to the Executive Council. They, in turn, will elect the office bearers,” informed MDFA honorary secretary Udayan Banerjee. The office bearers include the president, four vice-presidents, the secretary, four assistant secretaries, treasurer, etc. A few members will be co-opted later, including the chairman.

In the last election in 2013, there were two panels, and the total number of participants was around 63-64. But this year, according to sources, most people have withdrawn their nominations, and there is one strong panel comprising of at least 25 members in favour of Thackeray as administrative head. There is no rival panel and rest are independent candidates.

MDFA, which was formed in 1982 and got operational a year later, has faced many issues since its inception. Multiple court battles meant a lot of revenue was spent in fighting cases rather than on development and infrastructure. It also faced initial resistance from Western India Football Association. Certain factions also existed at different times and the infighting only complicated matters. But now, according to Souter Vaz, who is one of the founding members of MDFA, the dust seems to have settled down.

“Mr. Thackeray revolutionised the functioning of MDFA in the past two-three years,” Vaz said.

Vaz, who is the current WIFA honorary secretary has also served MDFA first as a member, then as a secretary for eight years and a treasurer for 15 years. He is currently the vice president for the past four years.

The president is considered as the all-powerful man in the MDFA. Thackeray, who represents Indian Cultural League in MDFA, couldn’t fight elections in 2013 as he was an inexperienced newcomer. He is now set to replace current president and fellow Sena member Digambar Kandarkar.

“The president post is bigger. We had no chairperson earlier, but the post was introduced in 2002 after amendments to the constitution. Thackeray has a different persona, so he ran the show,” Vaz reasoned. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ashish Shelar was the chairman of the body before Thackeray.

Former MDFA president Austin Coutinho welcomed the entry of young people like Thackeray but believed more young minds are needed in the administration.

“Aaditya is welcome, he is young and has the power to get things done. But there are some members from 20-30 years in the department who are not bothered about development. A few more young minds are needed in the management,” Coutinho said.

Coutinho, who was the MDFA president for two years until 2013, rued he wasn’t informed about the elections.

“I don’t think it (elections) was announced. I wasn’t informed. Though I am out of RCF (Chembur) — the club I used to represent in MDFA — but at least three clubs wanted me to contest and get re-elected,” he said.

Reflecting on his work he did during his tenure, Coutinho opined that Mumbai football needs a complete overhaul.  

“During my two years (at the helm) football was growing. We had many tournaments but were not getting sponsorships. So, we increased the fees, especially for elite
division clubs. We used to get 10-12 lakhs as entry fees, which was enough to conduct tournaments. Now the sponsors are coming on board, but they don’t market it correctly. Mumbai football needs a change right from the grassroots level,” he said.

MDFA operations:
The MDFA operates from St Xavier’s Parel ground, but also has a working office in WIFA) headquarters in the Cooperage. It conducts matches at St. Xavier’s ground and Mumbai Football Arena. Also, an MDFA stadium in BKC Bandra is coming up where astroturf is already laid, according to MDFA officials. The association is working on more grounds and also introduced MDFA awards along with an entirely dedicated website recently.

MDFA had earlier nine divisions including the Elite Division, which has been pruned to five.