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SpeakOut: The Blame Lies Elsewhere
The two defenders were "suspended" recently...
16-Dec-2009 1:59:26 AM
A lot has been said about the whole Dempo-AIFF saga in recent times, in the middle of which Mahesh Gawli and Samir Naik found themselves, to no fault of their own. And as usual, it didn't take long before the AIFF were made into villains, as they always are, no matter what.
Not that this is an article in their defence. In fact, let's just start afresh. Samir Naik and Mahesh Gawli have both been nursing injuries since the start of the I-League season. While Naik has still played a part in three league fixtures, Gawli hasn't seen any league action whatsoever.
With the national camp coming up, both players were called for it. However, Dempo, employers of the duo, refused to release them for it. One thing that should be taken into account is that the camp was in Goa itself, not in any other city, and it can be argued whether Dempo should have allowed both of them to take the short trip to the camp and get themselves checked by the national team doctor.
Then came the a slight misconception which villain-ized the AIFF. Once Dempo didn't release the players for the camp, the governing body took the decision to suspend Dempo from using the duo for any game till the first week of December, when the Disciplinary Committee would meet again to decide further course of action. That seemed fair enough, considering that if the players can't be released for the national team, they shouldn't be playing for their clubs either. However, the media reports that came out since, projected the picture that the AIFF had suspended Mahesh Gawli and Samir Naik indefinitely, which wasn't true, and all subsequent reactions from fans, players, and officials were based on these reports.
According to FIFA rules, the player must be released for the national team whenever he is called up, so the AIFF didn't expect too much to be honest. Dempo, however, have a point too. Why would the AIFF even want two players, who have been injured for most of the season, to join the camp anyway? Well, it boils down to lack of trust, perhaps.
Nicolas Anelka was the center of a similar controversy back in 2007, when France coach Raymond Domenech named the then Bolton striker in his squad prior to the games against Ukraine and Morocco despite the player having missed four games for his club due to a hamstring injury. According to the medical report submitted by Bolton, Anelka wasn't expected to be fit until December, while the camp was somewhere in mid-November.
Interestingly, Domenech hit back at the Bolton coach when Anelka was eventually fit to play in the second half against Morocco and mentioned that the national teams do conduct the required scans and while the clubs are only concerned about protecting the players who haven't played for them. So again, one can't blame for the AIFF to want the duo to be checked by the national team's doctor.
All being said, the issue could have been handled in a slightly better way, without causing public embarrassment to the two players, who have been helpless right through the whole saga.
Also, we have to take a pause and think before bombarding the AIFF with abuse and criticism, when we might not know the finer details. As Indians, it's almost in our blood to blame everything, from high taxes to excessive rainfall, on the governing authorities, and a change in this attitude must be pushed for by ourselves first.
At least we can hope for an amicable and sensible resolution to this self-created controversy, which, God and a few other people willing, will be the last of its kind.
Atishay Agarwal
For more on the SpeakOut series, please click here!
Not that this is an article in their defence. In fact, let's just start afresh. Samir Naik and Mahesh Gawli have both been nursing injuries since the start of the I-League season. While Naik has still played a part in three league fixtures, Gawli hasn't seen any league action whatsoever.
With the national camp coming up, both players were called for it. However, Dempo, employers of the duo, refused to release them for it. One thing that should be taken into account is that the camp was in Goa itself, not in any other city, and it can be argued whether Dempo should have allowed both of them to take the short trip to the camp and get themselves checked by the national team doctor.
Then came the a slight misconception which villain-ized the AIFF. Once Dempo didn't release the players for the camp, the governing body took the decision to suspend Dempo from using the duo for any game till the first week of December, when the Disciplinary Committee would meet again to decide further course of action. That seemed fair enough, considering that if the players can't be released for the national team, they shouldn't be playing for their clubs either. However, the media reports that came out since, projected the picture that the AIFF had suspended Mahesh Gawli and Samir Naik indefinitely, which wasn't true, and all subsequent reactions from fans, players, and officials were based on these reports.
According to FIFA rules, the player must be released for the national team whenever he is called up, so the AIFF didn't expect too much to be honest. Dempo, however, have a point too. Why would the AIFF even want two players, who have been injured for most of the season, to join the camp anyway? Well, it boils down to lack of trust, perhaps.
Nicolas Anelka was the center of a similar controversy back in 2007, when France coach Raymond Domenech named the then Bolton striker in his squad prior to the games against Ukraine and Morocco despite the player having missed four games for his club due to a hamstring injury. According to the medical report submitted by Bolton, Anelka wasn't expected to be fit until December, while the camp was somewhere in mid-November.
Interestingly, Domenech hit back at the Bolton coach when Anelka was eventually fit to play in the second half against Morocco and mentioned that the national teams do conduct the required scans and while the clubs are only concerned about protecting the players who haven't played for them. So again, one can't blame for the AIFF to want the duo to be checked by the national team's doctor.
All being said, the issue could have been handled in a slightly better way, without causing public embarrassment to the two players, who have been helpless right through the whole saga.
Also, we have to take a pause and think before bombarding the AIFF with abuse and criticism, when we might not know the finer details. As Indians, it's almost in our blood to blame everything, from high taxes to excessive rainfall, on the governing authorities, and a change in this attitude must be pushed for by ourselves first.
At least we can hope for an amicable and sensible resolution to this self-created controversy, which, God and a few other people willing, will be the last of its kind.
Atishay Agarwal
For more on the SpeakOut series, please click here!
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