Calcutta, Jan. 10 :
Calcutta, Jan. 10:
Mindless rescheduling of matches is already wreacking havoc with the Sahara Cup. Added to that has been some surprises like the foreigner-filled Indonesians making the tournament so far the butt of ridicule.
After tales of last-minute pull-outs and rescheduling at the eleventh hour, today surfaced a story of total lack of communication among the All India Football Federation (AIFF) top brass.
While AIFF president released a 'proposed revised schedule' this afternoon, saying decisions on Indonesia and Cameroon will be announced tomorrow, its secretary Alberto Colaco announced in Kochi that the former has been disqualified for including foreigners in the team, according to a report from PTI. The team had come here with seven foreigners in its ranks on Monday.
Clarifications were hard to come by, as the AIFF president chose to remain incommunicado, not for the first time.
The ouster of Indonesia puts India's fixtures under a cloud as the hosts were supposed to launch their campaign against them in Kochi tomorrow.
There was no clarification on the Cameroon issue today, as promised yesterday. A fresh release said that an official complaint has ben lodged with the Fifa for their last-minute withdrawal. The 'proposed revised schedule', handed over to newsmen barely an hour before, clearly says that Cameroon's withdrwal is not confirmed and a final announcement will be made tomorrow.
More changes in Chile schedule
Meanwhile, the confusion over Chile's first match intensified, as the AIFF deferred the match by two more days. Awaiting baggage from Johannesburg, the South Americans' first match (against Bahrain) was first postponed to tomorrow. The 'proposed revised draw' pitted the Chileans against Japan on Friday and according to a late faxed message, that match has been pushed back to Saturday.
All this has not gone down well with the Bahrain team, who complete group 4 with Chile, Japan and Uzbekistan.
'We were supposed to play Chile today. It was deferred by a few hours before being pushed back by a day and we agreed. Nobody has told us when exactly are we actually going to play now. It's incredible,' Bahrain's German coach Wolfgang Sidka told The Telegraph during the Japan-Uzbekistan match.
So what if we can't teach the Germans a few lessons in soccer, we can at least show them how not to organise it.
The following is the lastest schedule for Calcutta matches:
Jan. 12: Uzbekistan vs Bahrain
Jan. 13: Chile vs Japan.
Jan. 15: Chile vs Bahrain
Jan. 17: Chile vs Uzbekistan; Bahrain vs Japan.