Football footfall thins in Sikkim

RAJEEV RAVIDAS, TT,  07 Nov 2018, Gangtok: The All India Governor's Gold Cup, which is Sikkim's premier football tournament, appears to be fast losing its lustre going by the spectator turnout at this year's edition of the championship which concluded here on Saturday.

The footfall in the 38th edition of the tournament was very poor even though the Sikkim Football Association insisted it was marginally better than last year. The fact, however, remains that spectator interest has been on the wane for the past four-five years.

"There was a time when the Governor's Gold Cup used to have a carnival feeling about it. The Paljor Stadium used to be chock-a-block with fans reveling in the football fare dished out by stars of renowned clubs like Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, JCT Phagwara and Mahendra and Mahendra among a host of other teams," said Navin Subba, an ardent football lover.

Menla Ethenpa, the SFA president, admitted that big clubs from the country have stopped sending their A teams since the tournament clashes with the high-profile Indian Super League and I-league. "We have traditionally held the tournament between the Dashain and Diwali festivities, which is why we call it the football festival. However, with the tournament clashing with the ISL and I-league, the clubs cannot possibly send their A teams here," he said.

For instance, out of the 12 teams this year, the Atletico De Kolkata (ATK) and Bengaluru FC, both ISL teams, send their B squads to the tournament. "We may have to reconsider the dates of the tournament in order to ensure participation of the big clubs," said Ethenpa. For the record, Manang Marsyangdi Club of Nepal lifted this year's tournament by fortuitously defeating Army Red 1-0 after being awarded a contentious penalty.

Sources said lack of funds was another major reason hindering the SFA in promoting the tournament. "Earlier, the different state government departments used to support us by booking advertising spaces in the stadium, but they have stopped doing so. Last year the government helped us by granting us Rs 15 lakh, but despite that we were in a deficit. The situation will be no better this year," said a source. It could have been even worse this time had the Sikkim governor Ganga Prasad not come forward to help with the prize money of Rs 2 lakh to the winner and Rs 1 lakh to the runner-up. "And, there was a time when the money collected from ticket sales in the Gold Cup alone used to fund the SFA's entire year-round activities!" rued the source.

Sports veterans said the other reason for the decrease in the number of spectators could be their exposure to world class football on television. "There are a lot of reasons for the decrease. The standard of teams in the past was better. Fans want to watch good football, especially since they now get to watch tournaments like the English Premier League from the comforts of their homes. They don't want go to the stadium to watch mediocre football," said Thupten Rapgyal, the deputy director [coaching] of the Sikkim sports department.