By Manpreet Singh Bhatia
Jamshedpur: It was a golden opportunity for the state to host FIFA U-17 World Cup which would have boosted the game in Jharkhand along with whole of the country. India has never hosted any FIFA tournament.
�We are lagging so much behind in Football and when we got the opportunity of hosting such a big event we just let it go easily, it�s a shame for us as that after 14 years since the formation of Jharkhand we don�t have proper infrastructure to host sports events.
It was the government who made it possible to organize the 34th National Games in the state otherwise the Jharkhand Olympic Association would have never managed to host it. Cricket is the only game which doesn�t have intervention of the government and it is solely managed by BCCI. JOA , JFA and the state government should have stepped in and must have tried to host it when India got the hosting rights from FIFA in December 2013 and develop it to match the required standard,� said Amitabh Choudhary, President of JSCA.
It may be noted that Jharkhand Football Association Secretary Gulam Rabbani on Saturday said Jharkhand cannot host any of the matches of the Under-17 FIFA World Cup as the stadia of the state were not equipped with the infrastructure required to stage such high-profile matches, India was chosen as the host country for U-17 World Cup by the FIFA executive committee in December last year.
JSCA boss talking on the sidelines of a Rotary event in the city further said, �Look at other states what progress they have made but we are still lagging behind in every prospect. We have such pool of talent that we can grow and become one of the leading states of the country but that looks far from reality. No one knew Jharkhand but the game of cricket has given it an identity, everyone thought this state can never produce international cricketers and now we have two boys from the state in the national side and it�s a big thing�.
When asked about the prospects of Indian cricket team in the England Series and MS Dhoni will have to answer some series questions if Indian looses this series Choudhary said, this is the first 5 match test series in England since 1959 and Dhoni and his boys will return champions as they had enough time to gauge up with the conditions and with two practice matches already played the boys are in a great shape and will perform out of their skin this time around. The team is young and talented the boys are eager to achieve greater heights and under the able leadership of Dhoni the team will rewrite history.
Varun Aaron the fastest Indian bowler also from Jharkhand will prove his talent as it is a great platform for him to show his skills and shine at the top level, added former IPS officer.
