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What’s the Story?
The Myanmar national football team has expressed their dissatisfaction over the hotel in which they have been put up in, by the AIFF. The 155th rank team are in Goa now to play the 2019 Asian Cup qualifier against India at the Fatorda Stadium on November 14.
An AIFF source has revealed that Myanmar have complained to the AIFF about their hotel facilities. They are not said to be willing to stay at the hotel where they have currently been put up in. In fact, Indian team were also supposed to train at Goa ahead of their clash against Myanmar, but AIFF didn’t book hotels since the prices were steep, thus the team had to undergo training in Mumbai ahead of their final Asian Cup qualifier tie in 2017.
The Context:
This is not the first time that the AIFF has providing poor facilities to the teams. When Macau were in Bangalore in the month of October, the hotel authorities asked the them to check out from the hotel at 11 am on the matchday, as the AIFF had embarked their check-out time 11 am instead of 11 pm.
Also, AIFF had forgotten to take written permission from the Kanteerva Stadium authorities before the game. It was made possible just prior to the game.
The Heart of the Matter
India arrived in Goa on Sunday afternoon, and will stay at Hotel Alila Diwa. AIFF will now need to take steps to provide better facilities to Myanmar. After hosting the FIFA U17 World Cup successfully, such acts will surely spoil the image of the AIFF.
What’s Next?
India is making a bid for U20 World Cup, and recently, FIFA president Gianni Infantino had lauded Indian football a lot. Hopefully, things will turn up well and Myanmar will be given a better accommodation soon.
Author’s Take
Indian football is progressing rapidly and a long desire to see the Indian team in a FIFA World Cup has finally come true for millions of fans across the country. With such big strides being taken by Indian football, these simple things need to be taken care of.
