Bristling Kerala body demands answers from AIFF

the Kerala Football Association (KFA) on Friday, made its grouse official when it wrote to the president, Praful Patel demanding why it has been bypassed in organizing the ongoing Santosh Trophy in the state, and approached the state government to conduct it instead. In a strongly-worded letter, a copy of which is with Times Sport, Tom Jose, president of the KFA wrote, “In connection with the Santosh Trophy in Kerala, we understand that the AIFF office, with your permission, has entered into an understanding with the state government of Kerala to organize the same without even consulting the state FA.” “We would like to know how this understanding with the AIFF and government of Kerala state took place and who initiated at the first level,” Jose asked of the AIFF president, alleging that the Patel-led AIFF avoided the KFA deliberately.

Kerala sports minister V Abdurahiman is the chairman of the organizing committee for this year’s Santosh Trophy, being held at Mallappuram. Malappuram district collector VR Premkumar is the general convenor of the organizing committee, effectively making him second in command, while Malappuram District Sports Council president A Sreekumar is the convenor.

“Whenever the AIFF called for a meeting we expressed our concerns to the officials and strongly placed our demands to keep our rights protected. But your office never replied to our request and avoided the state FA deliberately,” it said, even as they reiterated to extend their full co-operation for the smooth conduct of the tournament.

The KFA has directed the Malappuram district football association officials to fully cooperate with the organizing committee. The organizational impasse over the Santosh Trophy is not the first time that