Can money also buy ‘disciplined’ footballers?

Okolie Odafe – needs the right coach to reach his potential?

In 2011, Mohun Bagan invested heavily on Okolie Odafa. Less than two years later, the club bore the brunt of his ‘aggression’ during that ill-fated derby against East Bengal on December 9, 2012. According to the Match Commissioner report, the Nigerian striker allegedly pushed the referee Vishnu Chauhan before he flashed the red card to the Bagan skipper.

Even retired Supreme Court judge AK Ganguly, the one-man inquiry commission appointed by the AIFF to evaluate whether Bagan’s refusal to play, said in his report that “from the video recording it appeared that Odafa was very aggressively saying something to the referee.”

Odafa got even more aggressive and “was arguing with the referee in very threatening gesture and went very close to him with a raised finger”, Ganguly said in his report.

Well, we are talking about being discipline by a top player and who happens to be the captain of the national club of India.

When Nigerian David Williams turned out for East Bengal in 1979, clubs were wary about the volatile temperament because he originated from the ‘hottest continent’ on the earth. That was a belief, which soon turned into reality when the immensely talented but temperamental Chima Okorie strode into the limelight in 1985. Chima became an iconic player with Mohammedan Sporting, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. In fact, his success started the trend of Indian clubs importing big-bodied Africans. How can we forget his shoulder-shrugging indifference and open confrontation with referees? The Nigerian’s frayed nerves and intimidation are still being talked about.

It was only under the ‘fatherly’ coaches like Amal Dutta and PK Banerjee that Chima could be ‘tamed’ and he was transformed into one of the best foreign strikers to have played in India. His brute force and goal-poaching skills made him one of the most feared strikers in Indian football.

While Dutta and Banerjee successfully handled Chima with care, Bagan’s Moroccan coach Karim Bencharifa completely failed to control Odafa, who is also known to be arrogant and ‘volatile’.

Had Bencharifa explained the circumstances to him, the crowd trouble could have been averted. We just can’t blame the administration or club officials every time there is violence during a football match. A coach should also be held responsible for being unable to control his players. Bencharifa hails from Morocco, a country which has played in the FIFA World Cup. As a coach, he should have known that it was a grim offence to take off his team from the match. Isn’t it fair to punish Bencharifa as well if we study the circumstances which led to the dispute?

At the world stage, Manchester City coach Roberto Mancini is struggling to control the eccentric genius called Mario Balotelli. But the 21-year-old striker was pampered like a kid by the Italian manager Cesare Prandelli in the Euro 2012. His double-strike against Germany showed his super talent besides making us believe that such temperamental players can be handled with care.

Trailing by a goal against their traditional rivals, I strongly feel that the 44-year-old Moroccan lacked self-belief on that day – something that was reflected in Odafa’s misconduct with the referee. But he should have been more careful with his players’ conduct in a tension-ridden derby since he has already coached the club in 2008-10.

The AIFF may call Odafa for a hearing at a meeting of the I-League Disciplinary Committee. The Nigerian will be asked to explain why further action shouldn’t be taken against him after he was shown the red card in the abandoned match. The normal punishment for a red card is a one-match ban but given the circumstances leading Odafa’s expulsion, the parent body could impose a harsher penalty on the footballer. And AIFF’s decision would be justified.

Before recruiting footballers, the management must hold a session with the players and make them understand the values and history of their clubs. I don’t think such practice is common with Indian clubs.

Bagan is a historical club which has a huge fan-base across India and among the Indian diaspora in the world. But I’ve never seen the club host any interactive sessions with the players where they are told about the importance of the green and maroon brigade.

But then, Bagan is not Manchester United and Bencharifa is no Alex Ferguson!