 Salaam, you're watching NewsClick. I'm Siddhantaani and my partner in crime is Leslie Xavier, our sports editor. We're doing our weekly roundup of all of the action, or at least top stories from our perspective, what we thought were the most interesting stories in the week of sport. We have a football special today, a complete football show, because of course Sunday was a day of finals. We had the final of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Cameroon and we had the final of the Asian Women's Championship being played in Navi Mumbai. Both very interesting games, one giving us five goals, the other giving us no goals at all, very different games, both. But we are leading with electioneering, a little bit of politics and the governance of football actually. The All India Football Federation which has come under fire over the past couple of weeks firstly because of its mismanagement of India's team at the Asian Women's Championship, leading to a mass outbreak of COVID-19 as many as almost the entire squad actually. Both playing staff as well as support staff were infected with the virus and India therefore had to withdraw after playing just one game in a tournament that we were hosting and in which we have not participated since back in 2003. Of course we have talked about the disappointment and all of that, but today we are leading off this show Leslie, because you've been speaking to people and football administrators from around the country got together on the fifth of Feb to demand many things I guess, to take stock of what's happening in football, to ask questions about when the election is going to happen, to elect the next president of the All India Football Federation and its executive committee which takes all of the top level decisions. Tell us what's going on Leslie. To start with, I guess there was no questioning about election and the future course of AIF of All India Football Federation and the office bearers. It was not in the agenda to start with, just that dissent was always brewing in the Federation in small pockets because it's a very tricky setup the All India Football Federation when you look at it, I mean the control, I mean top every control and all the perks and benefits that trickle down to the states controlled by the Federation and the officials and so it's everybody scratching each other's back and it has been happening for a while now, just that Praful Patel's regime and how they have been running the show and how we have spoken a lot about how Indian football as it seems to be completely lost in direction in that way because of the top every league and the priorities that has been set to serve certain people who apparently are I mean their own Indian football at this point. So, last month in December in fact when I was travelling in Bangalore for a couple of stories, I happened to meet a few football officials, the Karnataka Football Association officials and we were talking many things about local football tournaments, we were in fact sitting at the sidelines of their district championship Bangalore league and they were holding their championships and they were happy that it being held in their own small way and then suddenly the conversations were going to the point that they will push for it and these Karnataka officials, the people that I spoke to at that point they were very clear that we will push for the elections, we will start questioning, it's about time we did of course me being the skeptic that I am having seen how sports administration runs in the country I heard them, I took it with a pinch of salt saying, yeah let's see because it never happens in Indian sports administration that we are a huge questioning about an all powerful man sitting at the health happens but it happened at the age of and about time I would say and it came from Karnataka again, Nairis who is the president of Karnataka Football Association he is the one who stood up and basically didn't demand elections he just wanted to, wanted clarification on what is the legal situation now because where the AFF stands as of now is that they are not adapted a new constitution as per the National Sports Court so the lawyers of AFF have presented the case to the court that they can only hold the elections once the constitution has been adapted and so Rafool Patel and the current bunch of administrations, Rafool Patel specifically as president of AFF is three term, three term is over, it got over in December 2020, that's more than a year now and it has been extended since then with no idea, no clarification as to when the constitution would be adopted and when the elections would be subsequently held but the point is now where the state associations are wondering is that Supreme Court's order did not say that elections can't be held without a new constitution they just said you should adopt a new constitution holding elections had nothing to do with it but it's a matter of interpreting that order and AFF has been interpreting it the way it fits them so now what has happened, Haris from Karnataka he stood up and he asked the question and then there was obviously Rafool Patel is not going through a nice phase as of now because we mentioned in our previous show about things that have transpired mismanagement and mismanagement from the national federation because they are the local organizing committee as far as the AFC Asian women's championship is concerned and how the Indian football team exited the way it did with the state of COVID-19 infections and how that situation was reached because of mismanagement at various levels so at that point Rafool Patel had come out and said let's not point fingers at each other now I guess the state body officials did not understand what he was trying to say because they have started pointing fingers already and some semblance of democratic push is happening within the federation which is heartening to see and so Rafool Patel immediately he said that we will form a committee three member committee out of which Haris was immediately named as one of the members of the committee and then they said he will name two more and they will be given 30 days of time to check on what exactly is the status the legal status is and also why the constitutional option the constitution is not considered by the court and not even open that way to check whether it's valid and then for the federation we asked to adopt it and then post that election so all these factors or maybe stage the elections in itself without the constitution to start with why because Haris himself was apparently and this is quoting sources was apparently very sarcastic in his statement when he stood up and said that we have become a laughing stock as in the federation and let's just for the heck of it let's I mean unanimously pass a resolution now and make you president for the fourth term and let's put an end to it and let's give clarity to the world so I mean otherwise otherwise this is not happening this is bad for sport that's what he meant and so in reply to that only because obviously Mr Patel couldn't take that hands down because it is a direct sarcastic criticism towards the way he is running the show so he said I will form the committee but then it's been 48 hours now close to 48 hours and till now there has been no sign of or no releases or no any indication that the other two members have been appointed so they are sitting on it and at the same time the AGM press release that was sent by all India Football Federation through the journalists it never had any mention of this discussion this part of the discussion it's not a matter of national security it is in fact possibly the most important discussion Indian football is having at this point which is its election because that determines the future course of football in the country so they have been secretive about that as well so I am expecting and I was talking to this report was filed by our correspondent senior journalist David Basu so I had a word with him in the morning to understand where exactly the Federation stands so he said that he is expecting some news by the end of the day because many of the members after the AGM they are traveling back to their respective states so by the end of the day there might be some clarity using his sources to understand what action that has been taken by all India Football Federation if not something official comes out by then that is so things are still in a limbo it's not like elections will happen tomorrow but some process has started and some questioning has happened and questioning has happened at various level because election was one point they were questioning about the Covid relief fund and the states in fact demanded more funds into that regard and without it being an agenda in the AGM again AFF was forced to accept the demand and then promised that they will release some percentage of funds again to the state unit so this was one point Kerala Association for instance expressed its displeasure because when the women's national championship was staged last year in the state the Kerala State Football Association was not in the loop apparently the All India Football Federation had a direct tie up with the Kerala Government and they staged it and KSFA had very little role to play in that which they expressed their displeasure for that so there are many friends that are open for the current office bearers of All India Football Federation and the way I see it it's all leading to possibly a democratic change in the way football is run in the country there are of course according to the National Sports Code or these ideas are of course limitations on both the age as well as the number of terms that a particular person can hold a post like a president's post which is very different from that of the general secretary for example who is a professional who is appointed and paid for the job that they do alright thanks let me for that update and you can of course read that story on our website newsclick.in we will also be following up on all of this on our sister channel 420 grams where we talk about all things Indian football so Jaydeep will be on there I think we'll wait till the end of the day as information emerges then perhaps tomorrow we'll have a nice long deep dive into what is happening in the politics of Indian football not from an external or an outside perspective but just in terms of how it's governed because if there's one thing that we do understand in India it's the importance of elections so yeah but we'll move on from there let's to the final of the AFC Women's Championship that was held in Navin Mumbai last evening late afternoon or the evening a great game dramatic finish South Korea going two goes up in the first half and then China coming back as late as the 65th, 66th minute getting on the score sheet scoring not one not two but three goes in the last 20-25 minutes win another Asian championship and kind of capture a resurgence in a sense revival of its women's national team which aims to of course now go on to the FIFA Women's World Cup and represent Asia and do well and try to shake some of that dominance of the North Americans that they've established over the past few tournaments we talked about of course the disappointing way in which India went out but apart from that let's see a very good tournament and great advertisement for women's football and also a small statement that women's football is back perhaps it was never a way as far as the continual scheme of things is concerned because we have some strong in a pandemic context yeah of course in that sense it is back and back with some bigger if I can use that word and quality was I mean there was never a doubt that way that the quality of football that would be on display at the Asian championship would be anything below global standards to start with especially the top teams and it was clearly evident in the knockout matches semi-finals and finals for sure and knockout matches I was we were hoping that India would make it to the quarter-finals and then have a bit of a stake in trying to qualify for the World Cup and all that but the place where Indian women's football stands, Indian football stand in general I don't think we deserve to actually get that slot either because look at the representation of Asian countries that would be there at the World Cup we want the cream to represent be there and let's accept it India is not the cream yet so we have a long way to go and talking about cream that's what Korea again they were always a quality side but they never used to make it to the to the podium that way losing out to teams like we do forget that we also have Australian, Asian and also Japan, China all quality sides and they really played well they took the game to the Chinese there in fact we're winning the cup till 60 minutes and that is where I mean again in our report in our post match report Vaibhav Raghunandar who was covering the tournament for us he mentioned that small point which I find it very interesting and I would repeat it I'm sure there was an elaborate discussion on that also at the 420 gram post match show that you did last night so Korea had a British coach, China had a Chinese coach a legendary player from their stable and I've had a sporting experience of other kind like I was a wrestler and you go through bouts, you trail bouts, you fight back and win bouts and there is a bit of a role that the person who sits in the chair has to push you towards that victory when you're trailing and to get across to you of course there should be a connect you should understand your strengths and weaknesses and where your mind is at certain point all these factors are there because it's an individual sport but the biggest factor is getting across to you and so the presence of a Chinese for speaking their language and their emotions, their understanding, their priorities I mean all these cultural factors everything comes into play in that sense in that current situation so that major factor is something that possibly is an important point for Asian football to push towards for the women's football to push towards I mean challenging the superiority or the control of the North American teams or the European teams having the sport and also the men's team also because we all Asian countries, India included we all go for European coaches or in coaches create language barriers between them and as we get interpreters we get different all sorts of things to make it work after that but why do that when we should be looking at holistic development of the game of the national team setup by introducing people who understand the pulse of each and every player and where they come from and that is very difficult to achieve because achieve with a foreign coach because he is simply even whatever the study, whatever the homework whatever the atom that he makes he still has a bit of barriers to cross and so that was very evident and that's the take away in a neutral perspective as a football lover I would take from this tournament as far as gameplay and pure game sense is concerned beyond that women's game there was a lot of buzz about the game happening about the tournament happening in India people are talking actually people are talking in my circles, outside my circles also I see them talking about the women's game and how the action is great the matches were good India's disappointment was I mean more across the country and that kind of a conversation started is always great for the sport because what it does is that it is the next generation the upcoming generations that benefits from that provided again the governing body of football in the country has that kind of a diligence to set up these things use the momentum, catch them because I again looking at how football has progressed from say for instance the 2017 and the 2017 World Cup the boys World Cup that happened in India I don't think any drastic setup changes were made to take that momentum and push it forward those set of players who trained who had tremendous exposure they have been pushed and graduated into higher levels within the Indian setup but beyond that if you look at the wider scheme of things the structure that is in place and all that nothing has been changed from 2016 from what it was in 2016 it's still the same or maybe you can even say that it might have deteriorated a little bit with the pandemic happening and with breaks No, actually we thought about it the pandemic has massively impacted it and taken us no doubt back a couple of steps on that front not from a football perspective but from every perspective I don't think football in any way is special in that context I want to check again with you on that now these aspects have been discussed again but as far as the quality of the game is concerned again what you saw on the pitch and also players who have emerged and all these things and also the little bit that we saw of India what do you think Asian women's football where do you think it is at this juncture because this was also a display of quality and intent of the continent and as far as women's football is concerned Asia has been up there Yeah, I think first of all many people mostly men adopted a very sort of super salius attitude towards the tournament or the game in general a lot of those notions I think have been completely dispelled if people sat and watched like you say in particularly the semifinals and the finals Yeah to answer your question about where the women's game stands in Asia I think there are many similarities in that in that sense from where the game stands overall anywhere in the world the opportunities to play for these women irrespective of what country they come from I think are very very limited and it's a very diverse continent of course many individual nations have specific local conditions that impact all of these things yet you see some small steps being made positive steps Iran playing the tournament for the first time sending a team to the tournament for the first time and also simultaneously winning the futsal championship the continental futsal championship so demonstrating that maybe 11 aside football is a new sport for women in Iran but that's only because they have not been historically given the opportunity to play at all it's not because they don't know the sport they don't love the sport and they cannot play the sport so that's that level of new entrance in that sense in the scheme of things and then you go to the other end of the spectrum which is the Japan and the China and the Australia and of course South Korea as well Philippines making it to the semifinals amazingly pulling off upset after upset with a very young squad a squad again that doesn't have the opportunity to play club level football it has reminded us of how unfair and how much inequity there is in this sport that we spend so much time talking about watching, playing and love so much and in fact a sport that gives us so much of or me at least so much of my it's like a prison to understand what is happening in the wider world so in that context the tournament has the women that played in the tournament participated in the tournament gave us good reason for ourselves to introspect and ask ourselves these questions why are we not providing opportunities to everyone to play why is it only men get to play and women don't so and of course it has also once again shown the hollowness of intent as far as administrators are concerned the superficiality of it comes and says this is a great advertisement for women's football who are you advertising it to what do you need hold a showcase tournament fine but when you ask the question what is happening with the women's game in India just hosting or participating in a continental championship is nowhere close to enough you get the chance to host the tournament in house there is a fly on my camera a lot of people benefit from it and no doubt that's why so much disappointment when India went out those two extra matches playing in a tournament setting added a great deal to the growth of those 20 or so players who would have participated in it unfortunately it happened the way it did it was the worst case scenario for the All India Football Federation but an important worst case scenario unfortunately the collateral damage is the team that had to withdraw from the tournament but the way it happened again reiterates underlines highlights the completely there is no aspect of equality in the way in which we approach the sport for me the main learning thing has been from this tournament that one Asian women's football is like we said before the tournament started these are the best athletes at what they do in the world so it was a great opportunity for our audience even though we couldn't attend in stadium but at least it was happening in our time zone and we had good television coverage so we got a chance to watch some of the best in the world and secondly it's just underline the broad and sweeping inequality that just pervades the entire system I agree to that and also as far as the AGM for Indian Football Federation is concerned I don't think larger questions like these were discussed yeah politics is discussed that's an important aspect democratic process like I mentioned it's important too but I'm just hoping when these changes come in the setup of the federation the real questions of sport ones that we have been racing to 420 grand as well as newsflicks coverage of football I hope some of those as well as the larger developmental agenda is implemented in Indian football that's all we can hope for I guess and because there is a democratic process the thing about football is that it is a mass participation sport when I say everyone I don't mean everyone but every part of the world plays love this game so these are questions not just being asked by the media or by some of us they are being asked by people who are playing by women who are on the ground by coaches the entire structure everyone who is involved in the game and loves the game and is not given the opportunity to do anything in that game simply because they are a woman is asking that question so I think from that sense if the conversation is carried forward it will help and I think more and more pressure needs to be put on these supposedly democratic bodies that are governing sport across and in your sport wrestling the kind of change that has come over the past 2 or 3 decades something that used to be a complete male bastion now at least at the elite level we have as good a chance of winning medals at the Olympics in women's wrestling as we do in men's sport and I think in terms of the kind of resources that are dedicated to it they are not equal exactly still but at least there is an effort on the way to get there and it's getting in the gaps getting smaller narrow but also wrestling as an advantage because it's an individual sport and one can't actually undermine quality of a wrestler when she goes out and faces the world there is always a it's an easier fight compared to a team sport like footwork and I'm not saying easy in that sense there has always been wrestling and from the pockets that these women wrestlers come from they have fought a lot of things to reach where they are so that is obviously there but again having said that I mean where are the administrators then so when we had a problem in Tokyo with Vinesh Koget demanding FECO for the women wrestlers the federation of officials targeted men in the federation targeted just very quickly and that's a brief bit because we've already we're just going to be playing an excerpt from an interview that we did a couple of days ago so the Africa Cup of Nations also concluded it was the other final that was played yesterday no goals in that game a victory for Senegal in the end over Mosalah and Egypt but of course I think those of us who are interested in the game would have watched it and followed it and we're not talking about that here we're talking specifically about the idea that FIFA has been pitching of a world cup every two years and so in that context we spoke to a new frame which is social justice independence publication based in South Africa their sports editor Jabulo Ngidi was joined us to talk about the politics around the Africa Cup of Nations in the specific context of Cameroon and Paul Bia who is the leader of that country and has been for decades but also about the politics of football with the African the CAF which is the confederation of African football federation and why there may be support for Gianni Infantino's idea of a world cup every two years even though some of his comments were shocking racist and just deeply problematic so let's listen we'll plug a little bit of that show and I'll also ask our producers to put links in the description to the full versions of those interviews so you can check those out if you'd like for Africa the Binal World Cup it makes sense because that's also how the Nations Cup is held and part of the driving force for the Nations Cup was that the host nation is going to improve in terms of resources and infrastructure that is going to be built to host this so for Africa there isn't much to lose in a Binal World Cup because of the money that is going to go to federations for preparations that's why and that's where Africa is speaking from in terms of of the financial rewards it makes sense for the continent that's because that's essentially why the Afqon is there every two years it makes financial sense for Kev and the sponsors but also for the federations so federations would never speak ill of something that makes the money and that's where you wave and that's why Kev has a thorny relationship with FIFA in that in certain moments their decision favor Africa but it's not favoring Africa in that because they came it's because it makes them financial sense so that's why like in Frontino I mean he slaps us with one hand and then carers us with the other and it's a very complicated relationship right so like I said before you can of course watch the that entire interview on multiple of our channels actually you can go to news click you can go to people's dispatch or you could go to 420 grams is easiest for you we'll of course try to get back very soon to do maybe recap of Afqon from both the football perspective as well as a politics perspective if that's at all of any interest to anyone it is to us I think so we'll end up doing it anyway whether anyone watches or not but if you have been watching thank you so much we'll be back again next week with another bunch of stories Leslie giving us his perspective on what's happening in sport not just on the pitch but also of it thank you for watching we'll see you again soon goodbye