Indian football icon Bhaichung Bhutia on Friday questioned the AIFF’s decision to pull out of the inaugural FIFA ASEAN Cup to prioritise a high-profile friendly against Brazil, saying the reported Rs 50-70 crore expenditure on the marquee fixture was difficult to justify at a time when the country’s club football is grappling with a financial crisis. India will face the record five-time world champions in a friendly slated in Kolkata on October 3, with the All India Football Federation choosing the invitational fixture over participation in the FIFA ASEAN Cup following a scheduling clash.
“If Brazil were coming free of cost to play a free friendly match, I have no problem with that. But to pay Brazil Rs 50-70 crore to come and play a friendly in India at this moment, the timing is not right.
In an exclusive interview with PTI here, Bhutia said he had no objection to Brazil coming to India for a “free friendly”, but argued that spending crores on the match at a time when clubs are struggling to survive was simply the “wrong priority”. The timing is completely wrong,” Bhutia said. “Why do you want to pay Rs 50-70 crore at this moment when ISL clubs are shutting down, club after club, and I-League clubs are struggling to pay their entry fees?” he asked. “We have such a wonderful tournament, a FIFA-recognised event that is most probably a calendar event every two to four years, and to miss all that just to play one friendly and pay Rs 50-70 crore — that is such bad timing,” he said.
“The New Zealand tour is a good tour for us. Looking at how New Zealand qualified for the World Cup and performed well, they had a very good side. “Why not Kalyan request Bengal government to come and support East Bengal with Rs 10-20 crores so that they make a good team and go and perform in the Champions League.
“You can’t blame him alone because we have people leading who have no passion, no interest and no knowledge about the game or how to take it forward,” he said. It will be a great experience for a lot of our Indian players,” he said.
