Thrissur, April 22 :     The state of soccer in this country is not only worrying budget-slashed Mohun Bagan and East Bengal. It has also put fear into every team of any worth around the country. The last date for inter-state transfers is April 30, and of all those who have been booked, prices have been bad. Moreover, clubs and teams all around have been slashing budgets and restricting recruitment. Mahindra and Mahindra coach/manager Harish Rao (here as coach of the Maharashtra team, under technical director Jamshed Nassiri), believes Mahindras are probably the only team which has stuck to last year's budget. Rao, who will revert to manager when Shabbir Ali joins as coach this month-end, made it clear that the atmosphere is not good for soccer. 'I have had to tell my own son to concentrate on his engineering studies and not on soccer, even though he did play soccer in school,' he says. Mahindras have stopped their policy of recruitment as a player. Players are given yearly contracts, renewable through performance studies. Kerala Police, revealed Kerala Santosh Trophy coaches M.M. Jacob and P.K. Rajeev, have also stopped player recruitment. 'They are not interested any more. They say they do not need footballers.' Kerala Police were the strongest soccer team in Kerala and one of the better ones in the country for long. F.C. Kochin are in a major fund crunch, not being able to pay their players for the last couple of months, it was learnt. And, apart from State Bank of Travancore, they are the only other team in the National League in the region. As the 56th Santosh Trophy nears its conclusion, with the organisers (the Thrissur District Football Association) facing a huge deficit, a non-recognised, seven-a-side tournament in the adjoining Malapuram district is projecting a Rs 8 lakh profit. How? Players take part from different districts and adjoining states, coming even from the premier leagues there. The payment is Rs 1,000 for each 60-minute floodlit (temporary) match (sometimes on paddy fields that can cause injury) and there is a 'great deal of betting on,' according to a source. The Kerala Football Association does not like it at all, but can do precious little about it anyway. Such happenings and more have killed the very sporting spirit of the area. The malady has extended to Goa as well. Salgaocar have slashed their budget by over 30 per cent, Churchill Brothers by nearly 40 per cent. So have Dempo. Jamshed, named coach of Bengal Mumbai Football Club, has only to wait. The club is in such a fund crunch, a big comedown from its glorious start, that they can't even make a team. 'I will wait for some time more before deciding,' said Jamshed. Probably he will finally take up the Salgaocar offer. 'That's alright, but that's one more club in the bin,' said a sad Jamshed. He believes part of the problem is in paying too much money to players who do not deserve it. 'The budget is all wrong. We played better soccer than the ones of today, I can't see how some players can demand and get what they were getting.' It is not just the Calcutta cold that has given these clubs/organisations the sneeze. The general apathy towards the ham-handedness of and rampant and open corruption in the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has been driving the sponsors and well wishers away. Nobody who is halfway decent wants to associate himself with the ulcer called the AIFF. Even the Asian Football Confederation on several occasions has been unable to set the table right. The AIFF elections are late this year. Officials, coaches, players, alike feel if there is no change for the better in the management and attitude of the federation, soccer will die, like the Santosh Trophy is destined to in a year or two.