WILL STEPHEN CONSTANTINE BE SACKED?Das Munshi: Constantine will be allowed to conclude the remaining qualifiers in Singapore and Oman. We will decide on him in November. We can’t change anything at this stage.UNSAID: The exact situation. As given away by a source, Constantine has been put on notice and is on his way out.WHY ISN’T THE NATIONAL TEAM IMPROVING?Das Munshi: We have identified three weaknesses; lack of international practice, too many domestic matches and lack of fitness. We will decide whether to pick a pool of 40 players and limit the number of domestic matches they play every year, so that we can do more with them.UNSAID: Will the clubs be brought in on this? Who will fill in the gap in the players’ pockets? What will the AIFF do if players declare, for financial reasons, that they will not play for the national team?WILL THE AIFF FOCUS ON REFORMS WITHIN?Das Munshi: Spoke mainly about how the National Football League was the brainchild of the current administration and about changes in the NFL like bringing the number of teams down to 10 (from 12), strengthening the Second Division and introducing a Third Division.UNSAID: That the AIFF has failed to solve the problems of corruption, of the lack of enough playable grounds in the country, of creating centres of excellence to breed youngsters.WHAT IS HAPPENING TO INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT?Das Munshi: We are building the FIFA House in Delhi. That’s what the FIFA money was for. We don’t have money for anything else, though we are talking to corporate houses. After we finish the House, we will get a further $400,000 from FIFA, which will be for developmental purposes. The money we got from FIFA couldn’t be used for any such purpose.UNSAID: That not many corporates are convinced of the product — Indian football. And that the second part of the money would have come in a lot earlier if the House had been built on time, over a year back.
