Depleted talent pool hurting India: Syed Sahid Hakim

New Delhi: Dearth of competitive age-specific action is hindering the growth of young and upcoming footballers, including the U-17s, who will represent India in the forthcoming World Cup, yesteryears’ stalwart Syed Sahid Hakim has observed.

The Olympian isn’t too keen to look even beyond the Cup, commencing on October 6, citing the opaque future of the players once the mega-event ends.

“Quality comes out of quantity. Where is the quantity? At present there is no proper junior competitive tournaments held. No spotting and scouting of talent.

Tell me one thing, what will happen to these U-17 boys after the World Cup? Where will they go? How many teams will recruit them?” was his spontaneous response to this paper on Friday when asked about their future during the announcement of a five-day photo exhibition of legendary former footballers in the capital from September 11.

“Talent comes from youth. When you don’t have any worthwhile junior programme how can talent come up? You can hire any number of foreign coaches, but that won’t change anything.”

The septuagenarian believes these players, who are now enjoying exalted European facilities while playing in friendly matches as part of their preparation, will return to reality with a thud once the tournament gets over.

“They are used to modern, top-notch facilities. Where will they get them in the country?”

He is less than excited about the performance of the host team, who are clubbed in a tough group also including Ghana, Colombia and USA.

“All groups are tough in the tournament. They have been practicing in Europe for the last two years. Let us hope for the best. But it is very difficult to get out of the group. Ghana and Colombia are very strong and are expected to qualify,” he said.

While the former Olympian stopped short of criticising the All India Football Federation, unwilling to attract negative attention ahead of the tournament, he doesn’t let the opportunity of posing some uncomfortable questions slip.

“The AIFF should be able to answer what lies ahead for the U-17 players. The knew they will organise the World Cup four years back. If they created a pool of 1,500 boys and whittled it down to select the squad then we would have got a good team to compete in the tournament.”