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Monday, November 11, 2013

Sikkim Himalayan SC confounded by SFA nonchalance

GANGTOK, 10 Nov: Sikkim Football Association has been at the receiving end for some pointed barbs from professional football clubs of the State which are no longer mincing any words while speaking of what they see as SFA’s disinterest in promoting football. SHSC, it may be recalled, had requested SFA that it may be included in the line-up of teams for Governor’s Gold Cup this year.
SHSC had made the request after Sikkim Police left for the All India Police Meet and could not participate in the tournament. Sikkim Police had qualified for the Gold Cup by virtue of having won the Independence Day Cup earlier this year. SHSC was the runners up team and believed that the chance to participate in Governor’s Gold Cup should have automatically come to it. SHSC, it may be added here, emerged as the Sikkim B-Division champion earlier this year and will be playing in the senior division league here next year.
The Club did not however receive any response from SFA and has instead watched whimsical acts of the association embarrass Sikkim footballers and teams.
SHSC president Tenzing Norbu Lamtha, in a press statement issued today, informs that the club has not received any official word from SFA till date but has been watching from the sidelines of how the SFA filled the spot vacated by Sikkim Police and other instances of SFA’s disregard for local clubs.
On 01 November, SFA decided that the vacated spot will be filled by a team called SFA XI to be drawn from players from club’s all over the state. This team was apparently put together on 02 November, and marched out to play in the Gold Cup on 05 November. The clearly under-prepared team lost 4-0.
“The reason for this embarrassing result is not because of the decision taken in the last minute, in haste,” the SHSC president writes. The SHSC team in comparison has been training as a unit and playing together and might have performed better and also benefitted from the experience.
“For formation of SFA XI, why steps were not taken during B-Division and A-Division league? That would have avoided such last-minute decisions which benefit no one,” Mr. Lamtha adds.
Another shocker awaited SHSC today, when it saw Kanchanjunga FC play against United Sikkim FC at Paljor Stadium today. Siliguri-based Kanchanjunga FC had lost in the pre-quarterfinal stage of the I-Day Cup, a tournament in which SHSC was the finalist. Kanchanjunga FC lost 04-02 to USFC today.
“How the Kanchanjunga FC team was given entry despite having lost in the pre-quarterfinal stage of a tournament in which were finalists and were still overlooked is shocking,” Mr. Lamtha underlines.

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