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Eider Nehru football - an overview

The nomenclature of the glamour event of the All India Football Federation has been altered from Jawaharlal Nehru International Gold Cup to the Eider Nehru International Series, in recognition of the support of the sponsors. But the tournament, which ended on 12 April with Iraq defeating Uzbekistan in the final at Kalloor, a suburb of Kochi, brought no change to the fortunes of the host nation - India finished fourth among the five participants.

Indeed, the field was the poorest in the 12-year history of this tournament. It stuck out like a sore thumb when set against the fields of the previous two editions staged in Kochi in 1983, when Hungary beat China in the final, and in 1985, when the erstwhile Soviet Union made a winning debut by turning the tables on the erstwhile Yugoslavia in the final after having lost the group match between the two.

In 1983, Algeria played truant and left Hungary, China, Italy and India (Group A), Romania, Cameroon and Iran (Group B) to contest the Cup, while in 1985, the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Iran and China made up Group B and Morocco, Algeria, South Korea and India made up Group A. This year, just five teams - Iraq, Uzbekistan, China, Ghana and India played.

Pity is that the Kerala Football Association and the Ernakulam District FA, the local organisers, have been handicapped in the conduct of the tournament by the inefficiency of the AIFF. On all the three previous occasions there had been uncertainties about the foreign teams, and the start had been delayed. In 1983 and 1985, Algeria wavered. While they did not come in 1983, they did arrive two years later, and recovered from two goals down to ruin India's victory hopes with a 3-2 win.

This year the tournament was first postponed from January, because of Ramzan, to March 24, and then to March 30, because the AIFF could not reveal which countries would be taking part. Iran drooped out a few days before the start and Kenya did not pick up their tickets from Air India's office in Nairobi, a fact which indicated to the AIFF that they would not be competing.

At the press conference on the eve of the tournament, AIFF president and Congress MP Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi gave vent to his displeasure and talked of taking disciplinary action against Iran and Kenya, and seeking compensation for their withdrawal through the Asian Football Confederation and the Federation International de Football Association.

Should Dasmunshi try to make good on his threat, he will open up a Pandora's Box and expose the lack of organisation in the AIFF. And it could hurt, because the address of the AIFF to FIFA is not that of secretary Kedarnath Mour, a former FIFA referee, at Guwahati, but that of Dasmunshi at Calcutta. Besides, even without carrying out his "threat", Dasmunshi has exposed the maladministration as far as the Nehru International goes.

It has just now been disclosed that in future, the dates for the tournament will be finalised eight months to a year in advance and the teams confirmed six months in advances. Till at least one series is planned and conducted thus, all such declarations are merely selfserving statements of intention.

Though the Eider Nehru International series produced football of a level far below that of 1983 and more especially of 1985, it matched its two predecessors in takings at the gates. The fans had packed the temporary stadium at the Maharaja's College ground in 1983 and 1985. This year, they did likewise at the newly constructed Nehru Stadium at Kalloor. Perhaps being starved of good football through the failure of Kerala Police to qualify for the Philips National League made the fans eager for a taste of high skills, and they flocked to the stadium in anticipation.

All the six matches that India played - four in the league, a semi-final and the third place match - drew capacity crowds. But from official to official of the KFA, the amounts collected varies. One former FIFA referee even remarked that the true figures could be arrived at by adding those given by the different officials!

This respected referee opined that the local organisers must have collected from India's matches alone at least Rs. 10 million - that is, half the amount estimated for the conduct of the tournament. And the gate money, besides the sponsorship and income from other sources such as hoardings at the venue and advertisements in the tournament souvenir, would have yielded a profit that would cause the poor standard of play to be forgotten.

But the report on the Iraq-India semi-final by match commissioner Milan Dutta to the AIFF, the AFC and the FIFA could have serious repercussions. The continental confederation and the world body, it is learnt, are not happy with the administration and conduct of the game in India. Some of the belated actions by the AIFF and their affiliates had been at FIFA's behest.

Though Kerala football fans have a reputations for fair and disciplined behaviour - the 1983 final is an outstanding example - there was every likelihood of the Iraq-India semi-final not kicking off. Tickets had been sold far in excess of the stadium's capacity of 60,000. The result was overcrowding and spilling over of spectators close to the sidelines. Significantly, all of them had genuine tickets, and so could not be denied admission.

The match commissioner and the referees in charge appointed by the AIFF were understandably reluctant to start the match. They feared that any incident or dispute or violent act would be enough to spark off a riot, especially as there was no fence to prevent spectators invading the field of play. And their task was made even more difficult through the non-availability of officials to deal with the situation.

At the same time, not starting the match could have provoked the fans, who had all paid good money, and a law and order situation could have arisen. This argument, advanced by the Kochi police commissioner, made the organisers and referees-in-charge to relent.

The police commissioner did all he could, and posted his men close to the sidelines to act swiftly in the event of any trouble. But in the end, to the immense relief of the two teams, the match officials, the referees-in-charge, the match commissioner and the police commissioner, the Kerala football fans stayed true to their high reputation of fair play and disciplined behaviour.

This, though, is hardly likely to sway FIFA into condoning this serious lapse of the AIFF and the local organisers, especially as they are very conscious of the image of the game and the elimination of all that could be a potential threat. And a black mark from FIFA will be a deterrent for foreign teams wishing to take part in the future. and also against the continued staging of the tournament.

Iraq, who played first in this tournament in Goa in 1989 and claimed the handsome trophy at their second attempt at Calcutta in 1995, fulfilled expectations by retaining the trophy this year. With two Asian All Stars in skipper Habib Jaffer Agal and Lalith Hussein Shihab and eleven members of the triumphant team of Calcutta, Iraq were not only the most experienced of the five teams but also the most formidable. Right back Hayder Majeed, who overlapped often to boost his attacks, strikers Qahtam Darin and Hasan F Naji were the most sought after by scouts of teams wishing to strengthen their squadas for next season's National League.

The champions went through the tournament unbeaten. They beat China, 2-0, in the opening match, went on to crush Uzbekistan 6-1, prevailed over African challengers Ghana 1-0, beat India 1-0 in the league matches before edging out India in the tie-breaker in the semi-final and confirming their supremacy over Uzbekistan with a 3-1 in the final.

The Iraqis undoubtedly were the best outfit. Apart from the tie-breaker, they conceded only three goals while scoring 14. Their midfield was their strength, thanks to its compactness and ability to vary passes and switch the direction of attacks.

The other teams, including runners-up Uzbekistan, were mediocre. All of them would have great difficulty against rivals swifter in their movement and quick to reach and play the ball. Even the youthful Chinese , who had spent more than two and a half years in Brazil to hone their skills, needed too many touches to control the ball and set up attacks. The discomfiture of some of the visiting teams was too obvious when they tried to get the ball from their weaker foot to the stronger and more comfortable one. Also in evidence were poor defensive play in and around the penalty areas and fumbles.

Indian football cannot derive much benefit from this tournament, if the construction of the new stadium is excepted. The poor quality of the opposition masked much of the shortcomings of the hosts, and put a sheen on the high work rate and hard running of midfielders and strikers. The deep defence was too disroganised. India also were lucky to get their second goal against Uzbekistan from a penalty for a ball hitting a defender's elbow.

And yes, India did get the fair play trophy, if that is any consolation.