File picture of Assam XI (in white) and Sheffield FC at Sarusajai in Guwahati on November 18

Guwahati, Jan. 17: After bringing in the oldest professional football club of the world, Sheffield FC, to play on Guwahati turf, it is time for the Assam Football Association (AFA) to seek to introduce professional club football in the state.

As part of its new joint venture with Calcutta giants Mohun Bagan Athletic Club, the AFA will organise a seminar for all the 10 clubs of the Assam State Premier League here next month. The seminar, scheduled for this month, was deferred because of a clash of dates with the ongoing Capt. N.M. Gupta Trophy football tournament in Silchar. “We are going to organise a seminar on Club Management in Football, AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Club Licensing, General Management and Marketing and Communication to inculcate the professional club concept among the top 10 clubs of the state,” said AFA secretary Ankur Dutta.

“Mohun Bagan AC will depute resource persons for the seminar to present papers on how to manage professional football clubs. What I feel from my experienceis that we have very little knowledge about professional management of clubs like how to market ourselves and raise money. These are the aspects which the seminar will deal with,” he added.

The date and venue for the seminar is yet to be finalised.

“The main objective is to usher in professionalism in club football in the state. I have observed it in all the football playing nations I have visited that football is a very lucrative sport as long as it is managed professionally at the club level. We are determined to usher in the concept and this is the one of the initiatives,” Dutta said, adding that Mohun Bagan was one of the best-managed clubs in the country. “Footballers across the world earn more than any other sportspersons,” he added.

Mohun Bagan general secretary Anjan Mitra, who was enthusiastic about the club’s tie-up with the AFA, endorsed Dutta, saying footballers are paid well everywhere.

“We pay around Rs 30 lakh to our players annually and stars like Bhaichung Bhutia are paid upto Rs 40 lakh annually,” he told The Telegraph in Calcutta.

Dutta said there would be more initiatives under the joint venture with the Calcutta club to promote club football culture in the state.

A Mohun Bagan AC Academy team will also tour Assam next month to play exhibition matches against leading club teams of the state, the AFA secretary said.

The association has signed a memorandum of understanding with the club for technical and logistic support for all-round development of football in the state.

According to the MoU, the club will provide administrative and technical expertise to the AFA in its initiatives like coaching and grooming of players by deputing coaches and accommodating them in the club’s academies. There will be provision for exposure tours by Assam teams to the club and vice-versa.

Mitra spoke of Mohun Bagan’s plans, saying: “As a leading national club, we have two residential and several non-residential camps where budding talents are nurtured. In these camps, we take care of diet, exercise and every aspect, which grooms them into professional sportspersons. The Assam authorities have promised to start non-residential camps, to which we will extend technical support.”

Technical support includes monitoring diet and exercise, counselling for parents and extending help to get the players placed in clubs and offices. The grooming will enable the budding talents of Assam to catch up with the latest developments in the sports world, Mitra added.