Ankur Dutta. A file picture

Guwahati, June 17: The Assam Football Association (AFA) has finally woken up to take stock of the falling standards of the game in the state.

The association has constituted a committee to review the decline in performance of the state senior team, especially in the Santosh Trophy senior national tournament during the last decade. It will also suggest some measures to check the decline and bring the state football scenario back on track.

In the annual general meeting of the association on Sunday, the general body took note of the decline in the standard of the state team’s performance during the last decade. AFA secretary Ankur Dutta tabled a comprehensive report on the performance of the state team in the Santosh Trophy and pointed out that the team has never been able to make it to the last four in the last 10 years.

The panel formed to review the situation includes AFA president Hemendra Nath Brahma, secretary Dutta, vice-president J.K. Borah, organisers Manoj Patra and Ramesh Phukan and the secretaries of Tezpur, Guwahati, Nagaon and Kokrajhar district sports associations.

“The panel will analyse all the possible factors that are responsible for the repeated failures albeit the best efforts of the AFA to put together strong teams every year. It will also chalk out a blueprint to groom the team from the very beginning,” Dutta said.

The AFA sources claimed that non-availability of players from various districts and clubs because of their respective engagements was one of the major problems faced at times while formulating the state team.

After Assam’s dismal performance in this year’s Santosh Trophy that concluded on Monday, the coach and manager reported that the team suffered primarily because of the poor form of strikers upfront, Dutta said.

“Not only do the coach and manager’s report say so, their point is even endorsed by media reports. Had we the striking tandem of Akum Ao with any of those who played there, the results may have been different,” the AFA secretary said.

Assam were eliminated from the group league itself after losing to Haryana 1-3 and holding Madhya Pradesh to a goalless draw.

This time, the AFA had taken special measures to prepare the squad and apart from holding a special coaching programme for nearly two months, the probables were also sent on an exposure tour to Calcutta before the tournament.