Nayeemuddin

New Delhi: National coach Syed Nayeemuddin’s performance during the Asian Cup qualifiers recently came under severe criticism during the executive committee meeting of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) here onWednesday, but any move to remove him was put on hold by the federation president Priya Ranjan Das Munshi.

Initiating discussions on India’s poor showings, Das Munshi told the members that players were unhappy with Nayeem’s performance. “PK Banerjee confessed to me that the coach was overburdening the footballers. Bhaichung told me that coach was not training, but torturing the players,” he reportedly said.

The AIFF chief said that while he was aware of the members’ concern over the national team, it would be difficult to remove Nayeem as his contract runs up to Asian Games. He assured the members that process would be initiated to recruit foreign coach. He is likely to announce a final decision on the subject on Thursday.

Regarding the Air India-Fransa match, the federation, it seems, is caught in their own web. It has now sent the matter to the appeal committee after vice president and civil aviation minister Praful Patel pointed it out that awarding a replay of the match would flout all rules. The appeal committee has been asked to take a decision in the next 10 days.

The game of passing the buck has also began. Both Das Munshi and the general secretary Alberto Colaco blamed the Goa Football Association for not rising to the occasion when Fransa chairman Micky Pacheco chose to attack the federation. While a senior AIFF official said “some people are playing a double game”, Das Munshi maintained he expected GFA to support the AIFF a little more on this issue.

It has been decided that the Santosh Trophy next year will be held in Jammu and Kashmir. Next year’s second division NFL will start in February.

Meanwhile, the second-leg clash between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan will come off on April 9.