HALL OF FAME BHAICHUNG BHUTIA Newsmaker 2014 Bhaichung Bhutia had an acrimonious first seven months of 2014. He suffered a huge loss of personal prestige with a forgettable political debut in Darjeeling, then got into a war of words with ruling SDF in Sikkim and later crossed swords with Sikkim Football Association. However, Bhaichung is signing off the year with the greatest achievement for any Indian footballer besides re-imposing his indispensability in Indian football through Indian Super League (ISL). Bhaichung, who retired from international football in 2011, became the only Indian footballer to be inducted in the AFC Hall of Fame on November 30. He received the continental recognition during the AFC’s 60th anniversary at Manila, Philippines. “My journey from the remote village of Tinkitam to playing for the national team, captaining India and now receiving this honour has been long and arduous one. Most Sikkimese players come from similar or even more challenging environments than I did. I have always worked for the betterment of Sikkimese football and for the development of Sikkimese players. I wish to share this award with them as a tribute to our collective spirit and hard work,” said Bhaichung on his momentous occasion. He had flown straight to Manila from Kolkata taking a two-day break from his ISL commitments for Star Sports. Since October 12 when ISL debuted with the opening match at Kolkata, Bhaichung was seen regularly in the Star network channels giving pre-match and post-match comments. He has been roped in as a football pundit by Star Sports and with his Football Players Association of India (FPAI), his words carry weight in the ISL, the highest attended football event in Asia. Before he touched stardom as a television celebrity, Bhaichung faced monumental disappoints in the first half of 2014. The biggest setback was contesting and losing (by a huge margin) as a TMC candidate from Darjeeling during the April-May Lok Sabha elections. Bhaichung saw erosion of respect and popularity among the people of Darjeeling Hills who were supporting the GJM-backed BJP candidate S.S. Ahluwalia. Inevitably Bhaichung not only suffered a huge defeat in the elections but lost many fans in the Hills for political reasons. Amidst his campaigning, Bhaichung lashed against the ruling SDF in Sikkim accusing the front of sabotaging his campaign in Darjeeling Hills. This episode further frustrated his already brittle relationship with the SDF. After the elections, Bhaichung returned back home in Gangtok and was soon seen spearheading the campaign of Football Clubs Association of Sikkim (FCAS) for more accountability from Sikkim Football Association (SFA). By June, things reached to the stage when FCAS threatened to boycott the SFA-organized tournaments but the stand-off was later resolved when both sides reached an agreement by September. By September, Bhaichung was slowly bouncing back from his losses and since then, it has been upwardly movement for him.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 09:17:12 +0000
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