Goa exodus diminishes Indian soccer

In the 9th National Football League in 2005, there were six clubs from Goa amongst the 12 participants. The first six editions of the I-League, which started in 2008, were won by Goan clubs, Dempo thrice, Churchill Brothers twice and Salgaocar once.

In the 21st century Goa was dominant in Indian football. The state had adequate youth development and rural programmes. With many Goan clubs in the fray, young players got employment and ample opportunities to display their talent.

The rise of clubs from Goa was sudden but the fall has been equally rapid. Fransa shut shop in 2006. Churchill Brothers, 6th I-League champions in 2013, have not cleared their licensing programmes and are out of favour with the All India Football Federation. Vasco lack finance and are not the same force anymore.

The unkindest cut of them all came when both Sporting Clube de Goa and Salgaocar announced they were withdrawing from the 10th I-League scheduled to start in January 2017. Dempo, promoted from the second division may also join them. The Goan clubs are upset at AIFF and their marketing partner’s proposed roadmap for Indian football, in which they think that the eight Indian Super League clubs get preferential treatment.

Hence there maybe just one team from Goa in the next I-League, newcomers FC Bardez if their entry is accepted when the bids for the new franchises are finalised on December 11. The AIFF will have to relax their criteria to allow FC Bardez, Minerva FC (Punjab) and Chennai City FC to play.

The AIFF normally favours companies worth Rs 500 crore. None of the above three are worth that amount. A fresh tender for direct entry to the I-League is still being allowed. If no suitable bid is found then the rules maybe relaxed and three newcomers will join the existing seven I-League clubs.

The I-League will survive but the social consequences of SCG and Salgaocar’s withdrawal is disastrous and can have major repercussions for football development in the state. It means that many Goan players will remain unemployed in 2017. Established internationals like Rowlin Borges (SCG) and Augustin Fernandez (Salgaocar) will get absorbed in either Bardez FC or some other outstation club.

However the future of players like Glan Martins, Joseph Clemente, Nicholas Fernandez, Joyner Laurenco and Cajetan Fernandez (SCG) and Gilbert Oliveira, Nicolau Colaco and Brian Mascarenhas (Salgaocar) is uncertain.

If there is just one team from Goa in the next I-League, all these players cannot get a chance. They may have to play for second division I–league clubs where payment is very basic or search for employment outside football.

The current generations of players do not have public sector jobs so their future is bleak. If the existing I-League clubs from Goa lose interest and just fade away, youth development in Goa will be affected. Salgaocar, SCG and Dempo had scouting programmes in schools which extended all over Goa. Also if employment is not possible future generations of Goan youth may turn away from football.

Negotiations and reconciliation is needed. Both the AIFF and the Goan clubs must not take rigid positions; otherwise football in Goa may also go the Hyderabad away into oblivion.