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<div class="itg-mosimage"><div class="itgimage"><amp-img  src="https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/sites/media2/indiatoday/images/stories/1981March/football_112513012641.jpg" alt = "" height="425" width="650" class="" layout="responsive"></amp-img></div>Coach Bannerji (centre, in tracksuit) with camp loyalists at practice and (inset) Ghosh: a bizarre walk-out left the training programme in shambles</div>The five-storeyed tenement house in Calcutta's Salt Lake area, used as a temporary home for the 55 participants in a football training camp for the 1982 Asiad, was witness to a bizarre nocturnal drama one day last month. In the space of a brief five minutes, 21 football stars, including 19 from West Bengal trooped out of the building under cover of darkness and sped away in a convoy of cars. That left the All India Football Federation's (AIFF) Rs 18 lakh training programme in shambles.<br><br>The abrupt desertion was a reaction to the AIFF's directive that during the training period no participant would be permitted to represent his football club. Local loyalties being apparently more compelling than the prospect of being selected for the Asiad national team, a number of luminaries turned their back on the AIFF. Among them were such household names like Arjuna Award winner and midfielder Prasun Bannerji, Gautam Sarkar, defenders Subrata Bhattacharya, Monoranjan Bhattacharya and Samar Bhattacharya, and prized forwards Bidesh Bose and CD. Francis. They walked out after signing undertakings relinquishing their claim to play for the country and the state in any tournament. The desertion also had as basis certain personal grounds which were never made public, as the players were contractually bound not to speak to the press.<br><br>Secretary of the AIFF Ashok Ghosh, 50, later told a crowded press conference that the deserters, who "intentionally showed slackness during the practice sessions and encouraged indiscipline in the camp", signed the undertakings voluntarily when they were asked to either behave and stay in the camp or clear out. They were given a categorical assurance that they would not be debarred from playing for their respective clubs. Admittedly, this was an unexpected bonus for the 21, whose annual incomes from the clubs range, as the maidan grapevine puts it, from Rs 30,000 to Rs 80,000 plus perks. Understandably, they were keen to get out of the camp before March 1, when the club transfer for the 1981 Calcutta league starts.<br><br><b>Miscalculation:</b>At first it appeared that all Ghosh did was to get rid of what he described as "21 unwilling horses". But the move reportedly began as a subtle ploy to drop certain veteran players who never got on well with the chief coach and technical committee member, P.K. Bannerji, and had started defying his authority. Evidently, Ghosh moved in to buttress the fast disintegrating position of Bannerji who is known to be close to him.<br><br>But the move misfired and there were desertions<i>en masse</i>, instead of walk-outs by a couple of veterans on the verge of retirement. Said a technical committee member: "It was plain hell when almost half the camp walked out." Besides, a growing number of AIFF insiders, familiar with the wheeling and dealing of Calcutta football, find it surprising that the players, who could have, in the ordinary run of things, been suspended temporarily, should have been put under a stiff 24-hour ultimatum. Others argue that Ghosh did not exactly keep to the book as he drafted the undertakings without the working committee's approval. Moreover, it was not under his jurisdiction to give assurances to the deserters that they would not be debarred from playing for their clubs.<br><br>As was shrewdly calculated by the chubby Ghosh, who reportedly has his fingers in a number of business pies, the powerful language press, which regards football as a part of Bengali culture, reacted fiercely. The news received week-long frontpage treatment, and the deserters were dubbed "renegades". The players found themselves confronted with a cascade of nation-wide public outrage and the issue went international when it figured in the BBC's morning bulletin on February 19.<br><br>The social castigation was complete with the severe censure in the state Assembly. Said a stridently abrasive Jyoti Basu: "We are ashamed of such players who put their personal interests above those of the country's." As if taking the cue from the Government's hostile mood, Mohun Bagan Club authorities, whose officials had earlier been seen encouraging the players, expelled eight of the deserters in a stunning about-face. An official, endorsing the club decision, said: "So long we have been repeatedly turning the other cheek only to be slapped by those glamour boys. Well, now it's just the other way round."<br><br><b>Advocacy:</b>On February 22, the "glamour boys" made a swift climbdown from their earlier decision not to play for the country and pleaded for a pardon. They were very successful in rounding up support for their plea as state Congress(U) chief Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, who is also the AIFF vice-president, and state Congress(I) leader Subrata Mukherji came out with strongly-worded statements in support of the players. The result of this strong advocacy was soon forthcoming: The Federation pardoned the players at its meeting in New Delhi.<br><br>Why were the players pardoned? A little bird in the AIFF Calcutta office maintained that Ghosh had been under intense pressure from different quarters. Also, the players were reportedly contemplating going to court to exonerate themselves, as they could not talk to the press.<br><br>The new decision said that the deserters would be taken back if they gave voluntary declarations stating that they would not play for their clubs while the camp was in , progress. Refusing to rejoin the AIFF would debar them from playing for the state or the country.<br><br>According to Ghosh, 14 players will now join the second phase of the camp. But the ill feeling has hardly died down. Said a player who reportedly earned around Rs 65,000 last year: "Did we leave the camp to play in the league and earn money? Sure, and show me one human being who doesn't like to earn more, and I'll show you flying pigs."<br><div id="tab-link-wrapper-plugin"><div class="authors__container"><div class="authors__by"><div class="authlable">Published By: </div><div class="authdetaisl">AtMigration </div></div><div class="published__on"><div class="authlable">Published On: </div><div class="authdetaisl">Nov 25, 2013 12:17 IST</div></div></div><div class="sendros">--- ENDS ---</div></div>

sport

Sport

<div class="itg-mosimage"><div class="itgimage"><img  title=""  class="" alt="" src="https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/sites/media2/indiatoday/images/stories/1981March/football_112513012641.jpg" loading="lazy" /></div>Coach Bannerji (centre, in tracksuit) with camp loyalists at practice and (inset) Ghosh: a bizarre walk-out left the training programme in shambles</div>The five-storeyed tenement house in Calcutta's Salt Lake area, used as a temporary home for the 55 participants in a football training camp for the 1982 Asiad, was witness to a bizarre nocturnal drama one day last month. In the space of a brief five minutes, 21 football stars, including 19 from West Bengal trooped out of the building under cover of darkness and sped away in a convoy of cars. That left the All India Football Federation's (AIFF) Rs 18 lakh training programme in shambles.<br><br>The abrupt desertion was a reaction to the AIFF's directive that during the training period no participant would be permitted to represent his football club. Local loyalties being apparently more compelling than the prospect of being selected for the Asiad national team, a number of luminaries turned their back on the AIFF. Among them were such household names like Arjuna Award winner and midfielder Prasun Bannerji, Gautam Sarkar, defenders Subrata Bhattacharya, Monoranjan Bhattacharya and Samar Bhattacharya, and prized forwards Bidesh Bose and CD. Francis. They walked out after signing undertakings relinquishing their claim to play for the country and the state in any tournament. The desertion also had as basis certain personal grounds which were never made public, as the players were contractually bound not to speak to the press.<br><br>Secretary of the AIFF Ashok Ghosh, 50, later told a crowded press conference that the deserters, who "intentionally showed slackness during the practice sessions and encouraged indiscipline in the camp", signed the undertakings voluntarily when they were asked to either behave and stay in the camp or clear out. They were given a categorical assurance that they would not be debarred from playing for their respective clubs. Admittedly, this was an unexpected bonus for the 21, whose annual incomes from the clubs range, as the maidan grapevine puts it, from Rs 30,000 to Rs 80,000 plus perks. Understandably, they were keen to get out of the camp before March 1, when the club transfer for the 1981 Calcutta league starts.<br><br><b>Miscalculation:</b>At first it appeared that all Ghosh did was to get rid of what he described as "21 unwilling horses". But the move reportedly began as a subtle ploy to drop certain veteran players who never got on well with the chief coach and technical committee member, P.K. Bannerji, and had started defying his authority. Evidently, Ghosh moved in to buttress the fast disintegrating position of Bannerji who is known to be close to him.<br><br>But the move misfired and there were desertions<i>en masse</i>, instead of walk-outs by a couple of veterans on the verge of retirement. Said a technical committee member: "It was plain hell when almost half the camp walked out." Besides, a growing number of AIFF insiders, familiar with the wheeling and dealing of Calcutta football, find it surprising that the players, who could have, in the ordinary run of things, been suspended temporarily, should have been put under a stiff 24-hour ultimatum. Others argue that Ghosh did not exactly keep to the book as he drafted the undertakings without the working committee's approval. Moreover, it was not under his jurisdiction to give assurances to the deserters that they would not be debarred from playing for their clubs.<br><br>As was shrewdly calculated by the chubby Ghosh, who reportedly has his fingers in a number of business pies, the powerful language press, which regards football as a part of Bengali culture, reacted fiercely. The news received week-long frontpage treatment, and the deserters were dubbed "renegades". The players found themselves confronted with a cascade of nation-wide public outrage and the issue went international when it figured in the BBC's morning bulletin on February 19.<br><br>The social castigation was complete with the severe censure in the state Assembly. Said a stridently abrasive Jyoti Basu: "We are ashamed of such players who put their personal interests above those of the country's." As if taking the cue from the Government's hostile mood, Mohun Bagan Club authorities, whose officials had earlier been seen encouraging the players, expelled eight of the deserters in a stunning about-face. An official, endorsing the club decision, said: "So long we have been repeatedly turning the other cheek only to be slapped by those glamour boys. Well, now it's just the other way round."<br><br><b>Advocacy:</b>On February 22, the "glamour boys" made a swift climbdown from their earlier decision not to play for the country and pleaded for a pardon. They were very successful in rounding up support for their plea as state Congress(U) chief Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, who is also the AIFF vice-president, and state Congress(I) leader Subrata Mukherji came out with strongly-worded statements in support of the players. The result of this strong advocacy was soon forthcoming: The Federation pardoned the players at its meeting in New Delhi.<br><br>Why were the players pardoned? A little bird in the AIFF Calcutta office maintained that Ghosh had been under intense pressure from different quarters. Also, the players were reportedly contemplating going to court to exonerate themselves, as they could not talk to the press.<br><br>The new decision said that the deserters would be taken back if they gave voluntary declarations stating that they would not play for their clubs while the camp was in , progress. Refusing to rejoin the AIFF would debar them from playing for the state or the country.<br><br>According to Ghosh, 14 players will now join the second phase of the camp. But the ill feeling has hardly died down. Said a player who reportedly earned around Rs 65,000 last year: "Did we leave the camp to play in the league and earn money? Sure, and show me one human being who doesn't like to earn more, and I'll show you flying pigs."<br><div id="tab-link-wrapper-plugin"><div class="authors__container"><div class="authors__by"><div class="authlable">Published By: </div><div class="authdetaisl">AtMigration </div></div><div class="published__on"><div class="authlable">Published On: </div><div class="authdetaisl">Nov 25, 2013 12:17 IST</div></div></div><div class="sendros">--- ENDS ---</div></div>

The five-storeyed tenement house in Calcutta's Salt Lake area, used as a temporary home for the 55 participants in a football training camp for the 1982 Asiad, was witness to a bizarre nocturnal drama one day.&nbsp;In the space of a brief five minutes, 21 football stars, including 19 from West Bengal trooped out of the building under cover of darkness and sped away in a convoy of cars.

India Today

The five-storeyed tenement house in Calcutta's Salt Lake area, used as a temporary home for the 55 participants in a football training camp for the 1982 Asiad, was witness to a bizarre nocturnal drama one day. In the space of a brief five minutes, 21 football stars, including 19 from West Bengal trooped out of the building under cover of darkness and sped away in a convoy of cars.

Football: Drama off the field - India Today

AIFF training programme in shambles as 21 football stars walk out

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AIFF training programme in shambles as 21 football stars walk out

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