Disturbing trend emerges in Goan football

Short-term player’s contracts rule the roost at Goa Professional League

Disturbing trend emerges in Goan football

                                  

Daulat Dessai, 28, is a ‘professional’ football player, hails from Cuncolim and is due to play for one of the low-budgeted club in the Goa Professional League (GPL). He will earn around two lakhs if agrees to sign a four-month contract for the upcoming GPL event with one of the Goan club.

Daulat has a difficult choice, like many of the so called ‘professional’ football players of Goa, he either can opt for a full one-year contract or a short four-month contract, the choice is his.

But does he have a choice? Certainly not say football officials who know a thing or two about the murky behind the scenes which ail Goan football.

First and foremost the low-budget Goan clubs of GPL opt for short contracts which help them to cut on the budget.

The clubs sole aim to play in the Goa-related league and tournaments. Gone are the days when players used to get paid for the entire season. The trend has since changed. It is good for the clubs but bad for the players, especially for those who do not have much bargaining power (not in demand).

From the club perspective paying a player for the entire season does not make it a fit case for a perfect business model.

From the sporting point also it does not make sense. Gone are the days when Goan clubs use to be in high demand and used to be invited for football tournaments in many parts of India. The list was endless, football officials and players of yesterday years recall. 

The nostalgic memories which players recall are those of the pre-National League (now I-league) days when many all-India tournaments used to take place all over the country. With the advent of the National League many a tournaments have died a slow death as they either clashed with the League or could not fit into the All India Football Federation calendar.

The Rovers Cup in Mumbai and several tournaments in South India, Goans were in high demand.

Participation in these tournaments gave the clubs some revenue and mileage for the players. But all that has been consigned to history for the time being.

So the players are happy to ply their trade for two or four months and happy with their pay packet. But the day part is that they rust for the next eight months, a period when they are seen playing for their respective village clubs in the highly popular Inter-village football tournaments.

According to GPL guidelines, a club has to register nine Non-amateur players and their contract must be registered with the Goa Football Association, while the rest of the players can be amateurs.

But is there a clause on the maximum and minimum months which specifies the number of months a club can enter into a contract with a player is one of the grey areas.

A number of clauses in the GPL need to be changed with the changing times and it will be in the fitness of things that GFA appoint a committee to study what can be done in the best interests of football and footballers and revamp the rules where it is needed.

 Football administrators owe the footballers a service and setting things in order the off-field worries and caring for them should be the top priority.