New Delhi: Surprisingly there was no representative from reigning national and ASEAN Club champions East Bengal at the Vision Asia conference which focussed entirely on club football on the second day here Tuesday.

Calcutta was represented by Mohun Bagan assistant secretary Balram Chowdhury and P.K. Banerjee, who spoke as Technical Director of Mohammedan Sporting.

Others who spoke were Henry Menezes (Mahindra United) and representatives of Dempo, Vasco and Sporting Clubbe de Goa.

Alberto Colaco said that invitations were sent to all clubs but East Bengal did not respond. AIFF president Priya Ranjan Das Munshi did not attend Tuesday’s meeting, which was chaired by AFC secretary Peter Velappan.

Vision Asia experts emphasised that for club football to develop in India, individual clubs must emphasis on youth development programmes.