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Front Page >> Editorials > Story

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The Other Side Of The Trophy
There is no doubt about it. Manipur are doing very well and this is the best chance for the State to lift the coveted LG Santosh Trophy for the first time. However the good showing seems to be restricted only on the field and when we consider the fact that this is the first time the State is hosting the prestigious tournament which will decide the champion football State of the country we expect that the good showing should not only be restricted within the four walls of the stadium or merely to how well the State team fare. 

We have said it before and we will repeat it again. Hosting the Santosh Trophy should not be viewed only through the narrow prism of what goes on inside the stadium but what happens outside the football pitch as well. Yes everyone is happy and contented with the way our boys are doing out in the field but can we really say the same thing about the other aspect of the tournament? 

We know the All Manipur Football Association has done a good job so far but is there no room for any improvement? Already grumblings can be heard in almost all the nook and corner of the capital city over the ‘astronomical’ gate fee. From the quarter final stage the price of a ticket for the gallery has been fixed at Rs 30 and Rs 50 for the VIP stand. We understand AMFA needs to earn some revenue but surely this should not be the over riding objective of the apex football organization of the State. 

In our mind far from earning some profits from the tournament, AMFA should see to it that the tournament re-ignites the interest of the people in the game and surely pricing the ticket beyond the reach of the common man is not going to help in this direction. Hope the AMFA train their thoughts along this line.

Unlike other parts of the country football still manages to evoke mass interest here and nothing should be done to kill the interest of the people by keeping the ticket beyond the reach of the common people. We know LG is sponsoring the tournament but it would certainly help if AMFA or the AIFF make public the amount sanctioned for hosting the grand show here. We raise this question not for any suspicion that the amount may be misused but to make the people realize how much money is being pumped in to host the tournament. 

We are sure such gestures will prove positive not only to AMFA but also the game as a whole. Keeping aside the question of whether Manipur manage to win the championship or not, the over riding factor behind hosting the tournament should be to give a boost to the game here and hopefully unearth young and fresh talents. We already have reports that the president of Churchill Brothers, one of the premier football clubs, was here to scout for talent. It is such developments that should be kept in mind while organizing and hosting a tournament of the scale of Santosh Trophy. 

In many ways too the success of the tournament can be calculated according to the fresh talents we are able to unearth. Will the show belong only to the Bijens and Reneddys or will some fresh young talents appear to steal the thunder? We also wonder why Mr Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, the chief of the All India Football Federation has not bothered to come here. Or has he deputed any other official from the AIFF to oversee the conduct of the tournament? We would certainly like to hear something on this.

(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)

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