FOOTBALL | New TNFA president Shanmugam sets forth his agenda to revive the sport in the State

S. Shanmugam, new TNFA president, aims to revive State championships, renew association registration, and introduce Tamil Nadu Premier Football League.

Former Tamil Nadu football team captain S. Shanmugam, who was elected president of the Tamil Nadu Football Association (TNFA) last Saturday in an election held for the first time since 2014, spoke about his agenda over a phone call on Saturday.

“Every year, the association’s registration is to be renewed with the Registrar of Societies under the Societies Registration Act (1860). This hasn’t been done for a few years. Thus, the association is unable to receive grants from the SDAT and AIFF. So, my foremost task is to renew our registration,” he said.

Claiming that the State championships for all age categories, including the senior category, have been discontinued for several years now, he said that he aims to revive them.

“The probables for the Nationals were selected from those tournaments. Around 40 would be selected first, and 20 would then be shortlisted for a 10-15 day camp for the Nationals. I intend to bring that back into practice.

“For instance, the junior (boys and girls) National football championship is to be held from July 10 to 25. For that, the State championships have been planned to be held for boys in Virudhunagar and for girls in Dindigul from June 20 to 27,” he said.

The 62-year-old said that he wants to make it mandatory for the District associations to conduct their annual league, like the Chennai Football Association’s senior division league.

“There was this Champions Club Trophy for the District league champions, which has been discontinued for around nine years now. The event helped clubs earn points for entry into the I-League. Consequently, the possibility of our (TN) clubs getting into the I-League has reduced. So, it is to be revived as well,” he added.