Upset with players, AIFF to depute officials to Dubai

December 28th, 2010 - 10:03 pm ICT by IANS  

New Delhi, Dec 28 (IANS) Upset with the involvement of players in the reported spat between the team manager and coach, All India Football Federation (AIFF) vice president Subrata Dutta and general secretary Kushal Das will fly to Dubai Wednesday to take a stock of the situation ahead of the Asian Cup starting Jan 7 in Doha.Das lamented that it would have been good for the players if they were not involved in the incident that prompted team manager Pradeep Chowdhury to return to India.

“The issue has been blown out of proportion. Everybody has personal issues. But the players would have been better off maintaining silence, absolutely,” said Das here Wednesday.

Das said he would try to motivate the players ahead of the tournament, for which India have qualified after a gap of 24 years.

“We have to assure the players that everything is normal and under control. They don’t need to worry about anything. We have already appointed a new manager and a senior official will be with the team during the tournament to motivate them,” he said.

Dutta added that it was not the right time for the AIFF to take any action against the players.

“We can’t take any action on hearsay. We have to get the full details and with just less than two weeks left it is not the right time to think of taking any action against the players,” he said.

The players led by captain Bhaichung Bhutia, in a statement by Football Players Association of India (FPAI), have criticised manager Pradeep Chowdhury, who left the team after a spat with chief coach Bob Houghton.

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