Henry Menezes has taken up many roles at various levels. He is currently the All India Footaball Federation (AIFF) Technical Committee’s deputy chairman. As Western India Football Association's (WIFA) Chief Executive Officer, he takes pride in the grassroots initiatives underway in Maharashtra. He has also been the general manager at Mahindra United and Mumbai FC. The former India goalkeeper accompanied the FIFA delegates during Saturday’s inspection of infrastructure at Navi Mumbai’s D Y Patil stadium, one of U-17 World Cup venues.
He spoke to
Sportstar about the pathway for Indian football among other things. Excerpts:
Technical Committee's role in national football: Recruitment and appointment of coaches for various Indian teams (of different age groups) is primary focus. We are talking about matching Asian teams. To move in that direction, India needs right coaches. Football development is the next big thing, where the technical director’s role becomes vital. The gap between footballers passing out from school and joining a club is getting reduced. The AIFF has taken the right step by focusing on India U-16, India U-18 teams at the top. This is a classic example of bottom-to-top transition. As long as the state associations don’t develop, India cannot go far. The Technical Committee will give suggestions about implementing various programmes to the federation.
Importance of technical director in football development: Rob Baan was India’s first technical director and came out with a booklet named
Lakshya . Scott O’Donnell carried it forward and now Savio Medeira has been chosen. He is a thorough grassroots coach, who came up through the ranks as youth international to senior India player. He coached top level teams, has the ability to handle the coach education project and has a good team to design and implement.
Uniformity in coaching for various India teams: India has a football philosophy, mentioned in
Lakshya , that every training programme has to be linked to a match situation. It is part of coach education. We need to put in place a football training curriculum. Indian kids playing for the U-16, U-18 should know the football philosophy of the national squad, so that a player fits in the grid technically, wherever he goes.
On Santosh Trophy top four teams Bengal, Goa, Kerala and Mizoram: These states have always been strong. Mizoram is an example of players coming from their Premier League, which is very competitive, into the state squad. The Mizoram model should be used by every state.
On making the Santosh Trophy relevant to current times: We should not forget that Santosh Trophy offers career opportunity to players. Nowadays many kids are getting chances in the Indian Super League or the I-League, so importance for the Santosh Trophy is getting reduced in their eyes. Making it into a U-20 or U-23 event, with four senior players allowed in each team, is a way forward. Talent spotting at the event is being done by the federation. This will also assist in reducing the average age of the national team. Japan or South Korea, the average age is 21 or 22, for the senior internationals, against our average age — 28 or 29 years. After we lower the average age, in future India can think of matching other nations in Asia.
Technical Committee composition: It is a fascinating blend, consisting of people with varied experience. It is possible to develop a structured programme. Shyam Thapa is a legend, earned fame in Maharashtra representing Mafatlal Mills. He is familiar with glories of Indian football’s past and as the chairman will inspire us. Abhishek Yadav is a young face and will give inputs as COO of the India U-17 World Cup team. Ishfaq Ahmed just finished playing competitive football, so we have players from different generations. G. P. Palguna has played for India. We have Sundar Raman, formerly involved with BCCI and comes with ideas about how cricket was developed into the position it enjoys today. Pradip Datta is a noted sports trainer.
Reason behind appointment as deputy chairman: This is my third term on the technical committee, so it is confirmation of faith in work done, whether with a club or in a state association. Maharashtra (Western India Football Association) has been doing work which is now being seen by the country. The award by AIFF and FICCI (Global Football Summit 2015) for grassroots work is a sign that Maharashtra is growing in numbers and as a football state. Thirty-four district units are affiliated to us and we have penetrated every region with our grassroots programme. Out of 34 districts, 32 have grassroot leaders. From north to south, the state is almost like a small nation.
Replicating Maharashtra work on a national scale: Our expertise is grassroots, youth and women’s football. These are three verticals we worked on and managed successfully. Maharashtra is best in the country in coach education, as per list of certified Indian coaches. The ‘FIFA Forward’ programme emphasizes on women’s football, besides grassroots and youth. The world football body is investing money in the initiative, AIFF is going to get almost $12 million for development processes.
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