New Delhi: Is the National Football League (NFL) the only event that receives priority in the All India Football Federation (AIFF) calendar? The AIFF would certainly like to deny vehemently any such charge, but given the number of annual events still pending in the 2006-07 calendar, one is inclined to believe that it is going to be yet another hotchpotch affair at the end of the season.

With three fourth of the season already over, the federation is yet to announce the dates and venues of at least three major tournaments that includes the under-19 NFL, under-21 national championships and the west zone third division NFL. Also pending is the second division NFL, which may be held in February end.

In December, 2005, the AIFF, in its annual general meeting, took a decision to annually complete all its age-group tournaments by December end to avoid exposing junior and budding footballers to excessive heat and clash of dates with students’ academic examinations.

Yet, for the last two years, the under-19 NFL has not been held and no one really knows when it will be held this time. This is despite the fact that the AIFF president recently said the year 2007 will be the year to stress on juniors.

AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco said the under-19 NFL would definitely be held but couldn’t throw anymore light on it. “We have written to all state associations, but no one has shown interest to host it. I will soon be talking to all clubs about it,” he said.

Similarly, there is no taker for west zone third division NFL, another new tournament introduced by the AIFF this season.

So much so that AIFF is now thinking of nominating a team from West Zone for the final round, the dates and venue of which is yet to be decided.

The situation about four zonal and the final round of the under-21 national championships is much better, informed Colaco.

While he said there are at least four states willing to host the meets, he admitted that there could be some resentment about the terms and conditions offered by the AIFF for hosting these smaller tournaments.

“We may have to frame fresh policies to make it more attractive for state associations to host these tournaments,” he said.

“Then perhaps we will get many more interested parties to stage these tournaments,” he added.