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| A file shot of a match in Ranchi |
Ranchi, July 7: Born in 2003, but up and running in 2009.
The once-constituted Jharkhand Football Association (JFA) is all set to get a fresh lease of life by the end of this month. And the JFA elections are likely to be held on July 19 or 26, said S.M. Hashmi, the secretary-general of Jharkhand Olympic Association (JOA).
The JFA was formed in November 2003 but was almost non-existent as regular elections of office-bearers were not held due to technical lapses and the failure to communicate the date of election meetings to all affiliated members.
To tide over the crisis, All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Priya Ranjan Das Munshi directed that an interim committee be constituted to take charge of the state football body.
The committee was constituted, chaired by Satish Pillai, while Ghulam Rabbani was the convener. In the letter, AIFF secretary Albert Colaco directed the interim committee’s secretary to include five more members whose names were mentioned there. The five recommended persons were D.M. Chakravarty of Hazaribagh Football Association, S.M. Hashmi of Dhanbad, N. Hoda of Ranchi, Ajayab Singh of Ghatshila and Sudhir Singh of Palamau.
But the interim committee did not include these members, Hashmi said.
Later, another crisis developed when Satish Pillai, who was heading the interim committee as the chairman, resigned from his post while Rabbani continued as the convener.
The interim committee even overlooked the other direction from AIFF that asked the body to induct new members and then hold elections in the presence of an observer deputed by AIFF.
“I have sent a detailed report of the last meeting of the JFA interim committee held in Giridih on June 20, 2009, to the national football association. The Giridih meet was held in the presence of AIFF observers Subroto Dutta and Hardeo Jadeja,” the secretary-general added.
Though the interim committee continues, the JFA elections will be held after granting affiliation to Garhwa and Palamau district football associations, Hashmi said.
