29-May-2009 93
Orissa crashed out the 63rd National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy when they suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat at the hands of Goa at Tiruchirapally in Tamil Nadu today.
This was the second successive defeat for the hapless Orissa team, which earlier lost to Jharkhand 2-3 in cluster-4 league. The only consolation for the Orissa team was a walk-over against Arunachal Pradesh, which failed to turn up.
Putting up poor performance in Santosh Trophy is nothing new for Orissa. Last year also the team failed to win any of their three group league matches.
The reason for continuous failure is not far to seek. The sport in the state has hit its nadir because of malfunctioning of Orissa Football Association (OFA), the apex governing body.
Due to legal disputes, OFA has not conducted its elections for over a decade. Without elections, the association is lacking transparency and accountability. Taking advantage of the troubled waters, some unscrupulous people are clinging on to power and deriving personal gains.
There is much politics and less activity in the administration. The State government, the Chief Minister of which is the president of OFA, is encouraging the wrongdoings instead of checking it.
The All India Football Federation is also not taking any step to bring order in the state body. Under the circumstances, the game suffers as it should.
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