Baichung Bhutia made his way through the crowd as effortlessly as he dribbled past a maze of legs. Elbowed and shouldered, posing for selfies, he finally managed to squeeze into the banquet hall of the hotel. Unfazed by all this, with the organisers constantly reminding him that he was getting late for the airport, the former Indian football captain agreed to take on a few questions.
Four years after his retirement from international football, and into his new role as mentor of United Sikkim, Bhutia decided to enter politics. He joined the Trinamool Congress and unsuccessfully fought the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Darjeeling. That move raised many eyebrows.
“I was always been interested in Indian politics and followed it very keenly. Perhaps this move came a bit too early. There’s a lot of difference in being an observer and getting on to the field,” says the former Indian captain who was in the city as part of pharmaceutical company Sanofi’s ‘Steps That Count’ initiative to spread awareness on osteoarthritis. “Football has kept me busy and I’ve not spared much time to politics after the elections.”
Along with several other former and current players, Bhutia participated in an integrated license coaching course, organised by the Football Players Association of India (FPAI) and obtained an AFC ‘D’ coaching licence.
Is he moving towards coaching or mentoring a side in the Indian Super League (ISL)?
“I work as a consultant with Atletico de Kolkata, dealing with technical matters. But there are no immediate plans to turn coach. I don’t want to rush into it and I’m gathering all the info, the licences, the knowledge and maybe when I am a few years older, I may give it a shot. I have also done a sports management course from Holland. It may come in handy too,” says the Sikkimese striker, who has played the most number of matches in Indian colours.
Bhutia seems to have buried his differences with the ISL. He had voice his strong concern and protest on the disregard for players and their problems prior to the launch of the tournament. But now, he feels that the ISL has helped the game by inspiring youngsters to take up football.
He, however, has strong reservations on how the game is managed in the country, about the lack of infrastructure and training facilities.
The much-decorated footballer who became a torchbearer for countless of talented youngsters from his home state Sikkim and the hills believes that the abundance of talent is simply going down the drain.
“Not just the hills, not just in Sikkim and Darjeeling, there is so much of talent down in the plains too. Like I have always said, we have no scouts to pick young players, no initiative to promote them. Talent needs to be nurtured or we don’t stand a chance.”
Even as Bhutia rushes out, he turns and adds, “coaches, however good, will struggle without good players. The need is to have a proper system to develop this talent.”
