Anto Xavier signs for Sporting Clube de Goa

After representing country thru the junior ranks, this Austin Town boy is ready for the big stage - Anto Xavier will be seen in Flaming Orange colors in the coming season! Few weeks back, Anto signed a three-year contract with the Goan I-League team Sporting Clube de Goa. 

Primarily a left-half midfielder, Anto has represented India in several age groups - U-16 team in South Africa tour, U-19 tours, and Asian Cup. 

He started with Southern Blues, a B Division team in the BDFA League. He was playing in the Super Division for ADE in the 2012-13 season when he was seriously injured from a terrible challenge against South United. Anto broke his shinbone, got operated, and was out for the rest of the season. 

Anto made a strong comeback this season with A Division team, Students Union at the Kumar Memorial Trophy. Also, he was a part of the Karnataka team in the Santosh Trophy, where he scored a goal. 

Materazzi wows Bangalore Football, might take part in ISL

The first FIFA World Cup and Champions League winner to step up on the Garden City, Marco Materazzi wowed a sizeable number of crowd who came to watch him at the Bangalore Football Stadium. 

Inter Milan believes in developing football in new markets. So along with Barbara Biggi, Head of Marketing and International Business, Marco’s purpose of visit is to announce the start of the AVA INTER Milan Football Academy, which will be functional from June 1, at Hosur.  

He is quite knowledgeable, when it comes to Indian football - follows I-League, aware that a team from Bangalore has won the recently concluded I-League. Also, he is well informed about India Super League (ISL) as he was contacted last year, and he might take this opportunity to join ISL.  

Talking to the press, he opined that the development of the game will grow to be at par with cricket in India, and the initial steps have already been taken.  
“Looking at the smile of the kids at the stadium, the passion for football at the grassroots pretty apparent, it is important to carry on forward!” said the scorer of the FIFA 2006 World Cup final. 

And what are the chances of Italy in the FIFA WC in Brazil? 

“Not easy for my team, the first match against England is important for us. But then we are Italy, winner of four times FIFA World Cup champions, we’ll play to achieve the best!”, he adds, “So far no European team have won World Cup in Latin America, at least this has been the tradition, hopefully, we’ll break the tradition!” 

Speaking about Italy notoriety in the game inside the country, which had never affected their World Cup campaign so far. Quick comes a philosophical reply from the Azzurri. 

“When you are born, you come to the world with a dream, to play the World Cup, to win it, and so on. I might not even have the technical qualities like the other players that have won the World Cup, but I had a strong passion and commitment for the game, to win the World Cup. If there is passion, corruption, bad governance, etc., on does not influence the game!” 

Barbara Biggi, Head of Marketing and International Business who doubled up as Materazzi’s interpreter answered the question on how they are planning to make inroads to India, considering Football as a business in this country is not a viable choice. 

"We have no plans to create an Inter Milan team that would take part in ISL, like Atletico Madrid, but we have plans to create players for future.” 

“India is a sleeping giant, we know that football is taking a very important position in the country. We got a strong grassroots program, per UEFA ours is the best. Along with our partners, we would like to grow the level of grassroots here, and create and spread the passion for football in the country.” 

She adds, “We believe there is a good environment to invest sports for kids, spread the Inter-way  of playing football, and off course to increase out fan base, starting from Bangalore.”

[Pic Gallery] Materazzi in the Garden City

FIFA World Cup winner Marco Materazzi to visit Bangalore Football Stadium tomorrow

We might remember the former member of Azzurri for the infamous headbutt incident at the FIFA World Cup final 2006, but this World Cup winner is on a different mission. 

For the first time in the history of Karnataka, a FIFA World Cup winner and Inter Milan legend Marco Materazzi will be at the Bangalore Football Stadium at 4:45pm to add glory to the BDFA Super division game between MEG and ADE.

This is an initiative from Inter Milan to support the KSFA and BDFA in developing the game of football. 

Around 1500 passes are available at NIKE Stores on first come first serve basis across Bangalore through the following outlets:

• NIKE Store, Brigade Road
• NIKE Store, Indiranagar
• NIKE Store, Mantri Mall - First floor
• NIKE Store, Orion Mall – Ground Floor
• NIKE Store, Garuda Mall – Second Floor

 In addition to these passes the BDFA will also issue tickets to the interested football fans which are prices at just INR 50 and INR 10. The total capacity for the Stadium is 10000.

Also, Marco Materazzi will be accompanied by first team coach, Stefano Rapetti and a top official of the club, Ms. Barbara Biggi, Head of Marketing & International Business.

Marco Materazzi, Stefano Rapetti, and Barbara Biggi are here to announce the start of the AVA INTER Milan Football Academy. The AVA Inter Academy will be functional from 1st June 2014. Marco  amd Inter officials will fly on 24th May morning to Mumbai for the scouting through the NIKE Tournament to select the 1st batch of talent. 

Special Events

Special events are planned at the Bangalore Football Stadium - Marco Materazzi will interact with the fans at the stadium, show his skills with the other footballer and few lucky ones will get Nike Football signed on spot by Marco in addition to these there will be 20 lucky winners selected for a meet and greet with Marco.  

The personally signed footballs will be kicked by Marco towards the stand for the lucky ones to grab. 

Young footballer dies in road accident

Bhaskar, 23, a Bangalore-based player of BDFA A division team AGORC, died in a tragic road accident last night. He was coming down to the city from Ooty, when this mishap took place. Bhaskar was admitted to Satya Sai hospital, where he took his last breath, and died. 

KSFA and BDFA condoled the untimely death of a young footballer. A minute of silence was observed in honor of Bhaskar in today’s match between AGORC and Postal. His cremation took place today, 5.30 pm at Kallapally Electric crematorium. 

BDFA 2013-14 League standings

Super Division (Last Update: June 10, 2014) 

A Division (Last Update: June 11, 2014) 

B Division (Last Update: June 8, 2014) 

* Completed all the matches scheduled for first leg, final leg will commence after the completion on Super and A division matches

FIFA prez Blatter congratulates Bengaluru FC

AIFF media

FIFA President Mr. Joseph S Blatter has congratulated Airtel I-League Champions Bengaluru FC on “winning the I-League championship in their debut season.” 

In a letter to All India Football Federation, Mr. Blatter wrote: “Please convey my warmest wishes to all of the players, the manager, the technical and medical staff as well as all the team’s supporters, as each part of this organisation have no doubt been instrumental in their club’s victory.” 

“On behalf of the world football community, I would like to thank Bengaluru FC for the excitement they bring to fans of the beautiful game, and wish them all the best for the future,” his letter further read. 

Bengaluru FC finished on 47 points to emerge Champions in the 2013-14 edition of the Airtel I-League in their debut season. 

Chhetri and Johnson to receive I-League awards

The President of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) Mr. Praful Patel Chaired the Executive Committee Meeting at All India Football Federation Headquarters, Football House in the Capital on May 14, 2014 (Wednesday).

The Committee congratulated recipients of the I-League Awards who were voted by all the Captains and the Coaches of all the participating Clubs.

The recipients of the Awards stay as follows: 

• Best Player of I-League: Sunil Chhetri (Bengaluru FC)
• Best Goalkeeper of I-League: Karanjit Singh (Salgaocar SC)
• Best Defender of I-League: John Johnson (Bengaluru FC)
• Best Midfielder of I-League: Douhou Pierre (Pune FC)
• Best Forward of I-League: Sunil Chhetri (Bengaluru FC)
• Best Referee of I-League: Pratap Singh (from Uttarakhand)
• Best Assistant Referee of I-League: Sapan Kennedy (from Manipur) 

I-League to kick off in December, Fed Cup in Kashmir in May 2015, and ISL in September

AIFF Media 

The President of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) Mr. Praful Patel Chaired the Executive Committee Meeting at All India Football Federation Headquarters, Football House in the Capital on May 14, 2014 (Wednesday).

Besides, AIFF General Secretary Mr. Kushal Das, Senior Vice-President Mr. Subrata Dutta, Treasurer Mr. Hardev Jadeja, Vice-Presidents Mr. Shrinivas V. Dempo, Mr. K.M.I. Mather, Mr. Subhash Chopra, and all other Members including Ms. Sara Pilot with the exception of Vice-President Mr. Larsing Ming and Mr. Sunil Bharadwaj attended the Meeting.

Mr. Priti Srivastava from AIFF’s Marketing Partners, IMG-Reliance, was also present.

Mr. Patel informed the Committee that he had a Meeting with FIFA President Mr. Joseph S Blatter; FIFA Secretary General Mr. Jerome Valcke and Mr. Thierry Regenass, Director Member Associations and Development Vision, FIFA; at the FIFA Headquarters in Zurich where he discussed to put a bid for India to host the FIFA World Club Cup in 2017 and also in 2018.

“We have to put in a bid to host it for two consecutive editions of the Championship. If we are successful, we would have FIFA Tournaments in India in 2017, 2018 and 2019,” he added. “We will come to know the outcome in December 2014 and if it happens, it will be a big achievement for Indian Football,” he said.

“I also hope the Indian Super League (ISL) scheduled to kick-off in September 2014 will provide the much-needed boost for the game in our Country. I’m confident it will be a positive development for the promotion of Football in India,” he added.

The Committee endorsed Mr. Patel’s suggestion to appoint a Special Committee to advice the Technical structure for the 2017 U-17 FIFA World Cup. Mr. Patel suggested that former Indian National Team Captain Bhaichung Bhutia, current Indian National Team Captain Sunil Chhetri and reputed Indian Coach Derrick Pereira form the panel.

Meanwhile, the Coca Cola Cup will form the primary base for talent scouting for the Indian National Team for the 2017 U-17 FIFA World Cup. Boys born on or after January 1, 2000 will be eligible for the Championship.

The Championship will be played first on a zonal format and AIFF will conduct a Seminar with the State Associations explaining the philosophy for Scouting for the Championship. The AIFF Technical Staff would be acting as Scouts for the selection of the National Team for the 2017 U-17 FIFA World Cup.

An U-15 League including all U-15 Teams from Clubs, various Academies including AIFF Academies was also proposed to identify more talent for 2017 U-17 FIFA World Cup.

The Committee also approved a budget of Rs. 3 crore for U-23 Indian National Team’s preparations for the Incheon Asian Games which includes an exposure Tour abroad.

It was decided that the I-League 2014-15 will kick-off in the first week of December 2014 while the Federation Cup is to be held in Jammu and Kashmir in May 2015.

The Committee unanimously made compulsory for all Coaches/Technical Director to have an AFC A-Licence degree. Furthermore, any Coach/Technical Director without a valid AFC A-Licence degree, if appointed by any Club, would not be allowed to sit on the reserve bench and Coach the Team both during the match and even in Practice Sessions. They also won’t be allowed to enter the Dressing Rooms.

Furthermore, the Committee made it mandatory for all I-League Clubs to sign a marquee Player among the foreign recruits. Unless any Club signs a marquee Player, the Club won’t be allowed to field any other foreign recruits in the I-League any more. As advised by the Committee, the definition for the marquee Player will be intimated to the Clubs by I-League Department at the earliest.

“There is a Meeting on Club Licensing on May 21. It’s entirely up to the First Instance Body to decide on which Clubs get the Licence to play the 2014-15 edition of the I-League,” Mr. Patel stated.

The Committee was also informed about the ongoing bidding process to get new Teams in the 2014-15 edition of the I-League.

Furthermore, the Committee approved the appointment of an Integrity Officer to deal with corruption and match-fixing by June 2104 as stipulated by AFC and FIFA.

An Observer for the Elections of Rajasthan State Football Association which are to slated to be held on May 25, 2014 was also appointed by the Committee.

It was also directed that the Centralised Registration System for Players and inter-State Transfers be implemented by the respective State Associations by July 31, 2014.

The Committee complimented the Technical Department for introducing the Academies Certification which they felt would greatly help for Youth Development.

A special mention of Manipur’s triumph in the Senior Women’s National Championship was also made. The Committee congratulated the success of Manipur Women and appreciated their 17th triumph in 20 National Championships.

Fixture - BDFA Super Division League, 2013-14

1. 5-May, 4 PM: Bengaluru FC 1 (Karam Sawhney-43') Vs South United 1 (Sunil-88')
2. 6-May, 4 PM: CIL 1 (Nirmal-15') Vs RWF 1 (Rajesh-32')
3. 7-May, 4 PM: ASC 1 (Rajeeb Dey-59') Vs Jawahar Union 1 (Desai-11')
4. 8-May, 4 PM: Bengaluru FC 0 Vs ADE 1 (Rajkiran-45')
   ADE played with 10 men for most of the game after popular BDFA referee Vijaykumar gave marching order to Karthik on 32nd minute. 
5. 9-May, 4 PM: HAL 0 Vs RWF 1 (Rajesh-45')
6. 11-May, 4 PM: Bengaluru FC 2 (Karam Sawhney-4', 23')  Vs MEG 1 (Dipen Thapa-52')
7. 12-May, 4 PM: CIL 3 (Nirmal kumar-39', 85'[P], 90'+2') Vs Jawahar Union 1 (Desai-28')
8. 13-May, 4 PM: South United 0 Vs ADE 1 
9. 14-May, 4 PM: HAL 1 (Xavier Vijaykumar-61') Vs ASC 1 (Saikh-46')
10. 15-May, 4 PM: Bengaluru FC 1 (Anto Rushi-15') Vs RWF 1 (Rajesh-70') 
11. 16-May, 4 PM: MEG 0 Vs CIL 2 (Nirmal Kumar-79', Pradeepkumar-83') 
12. 17-May, 4 PM: ADE 3 (Madan-59', Rajkiran-80', Deepak-90'+2') Vs Jawahar Union 0 
13. 18-May, 4 PM: Bengaluru FC 2 (Santhosh-6', Vishal Kumar-88') Vs ASC 1 (Ramachandran-45'+2') 
14. 19-May, 4 PM: HAL 2 (Gopi-14', Karthigayen-68') Vs South United 1 (Senthil-88') 
15. 20-May, 4 PM: MEG 5 (Girish-13', 41', Dipan Thapa-15', 28', Hmar-54') Vs RWF 1 (Satishkumar-37' [P]) 
16. 21-May, 4 PM: Bengaluru FC 3 (Karan-34', Vijya-60 [own goal], Rushi Anto-61') Vs CIL 5 (Pradeepkumar-53', 90', Prakash B-76', Nagaraj-83', Nirmalkumar-88')  
17. 22-May, 4 PM: South United 2 (Sunil-18, Raja Pandi-76') Vs Jawahar Union 1 (Desai-89') 
18. 23-May, 4 PM: MEG 0 Vs ADE 0
19. 24-May, 4 PM: CIL 0 Vs ASC 2 (Mujumdar-21', Lakkpa Tamang-24')
20. 25-May, 4 PM: Bengaluru FC 0 Vs HAL 2 (AD Kumar-57', Mahendra Mani-75') 
21. 26-May, 4 PM: RWF 5 (Ajzar Jamal-36', Prakash-38', Mani-50' Satish-79', Rajesh-88') Vs Jawahar Union 1 (Desai-47') 
22. 27-May, 4 PM: South United 2 (Subash-28', Murugappan-46') Vs ASC 1 (Deepak Panth-90'+1') 
23. 28-May, 4 PM: Bengaluru FC 1 (Suhas S-89') Vs Jawahar Union 1 (Dhruv-82') 
24. 29-May, 4 PM: HAL 0 Vs ADE 1 (Kavi Arasan-83') 
25. 30-May, 4 PM: ASC 1 (Amit Roy-90'+1') Vs MEG 1 (Hmar-35')
26. 31-May, 4 PM: South United 3 (Senthil-53', Subash-72', 75') Vs CIL 0 
27. 1-Jun, 4 PM: HAL 0 Vs MEG 0 
28. 2-Jun, 4 PM: RWF 1 (Prakash-67') Vs ADE 4 (Deepak-24', 86', Jaivandan-26' [P], Dany Chiru-90'+1') 
29. 3-Jun, 4 PM: Jawahar Union 1 (Chintan-4') Vs HAL 0 
30. 4-Jan, 4 PM: ADE 1 (Kaviarasan-9') Vs ASC 4 (P Majumdar-29', Aroj Saikh-41', Lakpa Tamang-47', Rajib-78')
31. 5-Jun, 4 PM: South United 2 (Manivanan-31', Tony-64') Vs RWF 1 (Rajesh-68') 
32. 6-Jun, 4 PM: HAL 0 Vs CIL 1 (Nikhil Dass-70') 
33. 7-Jun, 4 PM: MEG 3 (Girish VK-66', 70', Gabriel-89') Vs Jawahar Union 0 
34. 8-Jun, 4 PM: RWF 1 (Rajesh-58') Vs ASC 1 (Rama Chandran-55') 
35. 9-Jun, 4 PM: ADE 1 (Raju-49') Vs CIL 1 (Pradeep-68')
36. 10-Jun, 4 PM: MEG 1 (Ramu-79') Vs South United 1 (Sharath-9')  

Fixture - BDFA A Division League, 2013-14

1. 5-May, 2 PM: Tilak Memorial 0 Vs DYES 1 (Rosing-2') 
2. 6-May, 2 PM: Bangalore Kickers 1 (Arun-36') Vs LRDE 1 (Surendra Babu-59')
3. 7-May, 2 PM: AGORC 1 (Mohan Maran-66') Vs SAI 1 (Sudarshan-6')
4. 8-May, 2 PM: Students Union 2 (Mitesh-12', Abubakar-75') Vs BUFC 1 (Clivert-30')
5. 9-May, 2 PM: Postal 0 Vs SAI 3 (Samananda Singh-34'[p],42', Razak Ahammed-75') 
6. 11-May, 2 PM: Bangalore Kickers 1 (Raghu-53') Vs Bangalore Independents 4 (Karthick-42', Adithya-52', 70', 80') 
7. 12-May, 2 PM: Tilak Memorial 2 (Raja-3', Rajesh-66') Vs Students Union 1 (Sharath-11')
8. 13-May, 2 PM: LRDE 1 (Stalin-11') Vs DYES 4 (Santhosh-29', Rosing-41', Jeevan-68', Harish-80') 
9. 14-May, 2 PM: BUFC 0 Vs SAI 0 
10. 15-May, 2 PM: AGORC 0 Vs Bangalore Independents 0 
11. 16-May, 2 PM: Postal 1 (Einsten-32') Vs LRDE 2 (Roy-54', Saravana Lokesh-60') 
12. 17-May, 2 PM: Tilak Memorial 1 (Rajesh-12') Vs SAI 1 (Biono S-9')
13. 18-May, 2 PM: Students Union 2 (Sharath-18', 79') Vs DYES 0 
14. 19-May, 2 PM: BUFC 2 (Naresh-23', Rakesh-35') Vs Bangalore Kickers 0 
15. 20-May, 2 PM: Bangalore Independents 2 (Deepak-17', 33') Vs SAI 2 (Sudarshan-23', Saroj Roy-27')
16. 21-May, 2 PM: Postal 3 (Schlemang-38', 63', Srinivas-70') Vs AGORC 1 (Murali-80'+1') 
17. 22-May, 2 PM: LRDE 3 (Roy-49', Saravana Lokesh-65', Suresh Babu-70') Vs SAI 2 (Sudershan-18', 33') 
18. 23-May, 2 PM: Tilak Memorial 0 Vs BUFC 1 (Clivert-3')
19. 24-May, 2 PM: DYES 2 (Rosing-26', 28') Vs SAI 0 
20. 25-May, 2 PM: Bangalore Independents 0 Vs Students Union 0 
21. 26-May, 2 PM: Bangalore Kickers 1 (Praveen-42') Vs SAI 7 (Md Rajak-38, Deepak-55', Sudershan-64', 69', 71', 79', Binay Rai-65')
22. 27-May, 2 PM: DYES 5 (Mazar Hussain-24' Rosing-42', Annappa-43', Santosh-44', 56') Vs Postal 0 
23. 28-May, 2 PM: Students Union 1 (K Pandith-79') Vs SAI 0 
24. 29-May, 2 PM: LRDE 1 (Surender-33') Vs BUFC 4 (Naresh-28', 38', Madhu-73', 80'+) 
25. 30-May, 2 PM: Tilak Memorial 2 (Paul-13', Rajesh-55') Vs Bangalore Independents 4 (Deepak-7', 8', Kuty-32', Aithya KV-75')
26. 31-May, 2 PM: Bangalore Kickers 0 Vs Postal 3 (Schlenmang-8', 68', Venkatesh-56')
27. 1-June, 2 PM: Students Union 1 (Ishaan Pandit-74') Vs AGORC 2 (Vinod-7', Nabeel-18')
28. 2-June, 2 PM: BUFC 0 Vs Bangalore Independents 0 
29. 3-June, 2 PM: Bangalore Kickers 2 (Raghu-29', 33') Vs DYES 1 (Mazar Hussain-70') 
30. 4-June 2 PM: Tilak Memorial 0 Vs Postal 1 (Schlenmang-74') 
31. 5-June 2 PM: LRDE 1 (Surendar Babu-79') Vs AGORC 3 (Murali-49', Manju-50', Ramesh-60') 
32. 6-June, 2 PM: Bangalore Kickers 0 Vs Students Union 5 (Mitesh-1',Wesley-12', 19', Johan Peter-61', Denzil-75')
33. 7-June, 2 PM: Bangalore Independents 2 (Arun-13', Shivakumar-61') Vs Postal 0 
34. 8-June, 2 PM: BUFC 1 (Anand-25') Vs DYES 2 (Ravikiran-24th, Santhosh-55')
35. 9-June, 2 PM: Tilak Memorial 1 (Milton-61') Vs AGORC 1 (Santhosh-36')
36. 10-June, 2 PM: LRDE 0 Vs Students Union 1 (Mithesh-90'+3') 
37. 11-June, 2 PM: Postal 0 Vs BUFC 5 (Clivert- 27', 38', 44', Naresh-33', 60') 
38. 11-Jun 4 PM: DYES 2 (Sudeer-5', Santhosh-56') Vs Bangalore Independents 0 
39. 12-June, 2 PM: AGORC 3 (Vinod-14', Manju-52',70') Vs Bangalore Kickers 1 (Viswash-5') 
40. 12-Jun 4 PM: Tilak Memorial 3 (Milton-29', 59', Geetesh-35') Vs LRDE 2 (Surendar Babu-11', Saravana Lokesh-70')
41. 13-June 2 PM: Postal 0 Vs Students Union 2 (Satish-4', Bharath-52') 
42. 13-June 4 PM: Bangalore Independents 2 (Santhosh-7', Deepak-38') Vs LRDE 3 (Surendaer Babu-32',58', Saravana Lokesh-53'[P]) 
43. 16-June, 2 PM: DYES 1 (Sudeer-5') Vs AGORC 1 (Manju-62')
44. 16-June 4 PM: Tilak Memorial 3 (Geetesh-27', 54', Rajesh-64') Vs Bangalore Kickers 1 (Sumith-80') 
45. 17-June, 2 PM: BUFC 2 (Clivert-37', Willam-64') Vs AGORC 0