by Prasert Srisueb
1st April, 1999
To make the professional football league dream come true seems not to be the responsibility of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) alone now that the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) is apparently taking the matter more seriously than the FAT. SAT, the brains behind the initiative to introduce a truly professional football league, will today organise a seminar to find out ways and means to make this dream come true.
Minister of the PM's Office Jurin Laksanavisit will preside over the seminar which will end at noon at the Radisson Hotel. The seminar will commence at 10 am with SAT governor Dr Sakchye Tapsuwan and his deputies presenting a report to the minister about how the scheme of the professional football has been handled so far and the outcome of a survey.
FAT president Vijit Getkaew will also be present at the seminar. He will speak in general terms about the concept of professional football. Jurin will speak at the conclusion of the seminar. Also present at the seminar will the representatives from 10 provinces who have the potential of taking part in the inaugural professional league.
It seems to be a very good move to make the professional football dream come true as the minister himself is taking a great interest in the plan. I am not expecting that professional football will become a reality within a year or two. But, with SAT, which is a government body, taking this matter seriously, I do believe that the dream will come to fruition sooner than if we we had let FAT do it alone. In fact, FAT had tried in vain in the past few years to introduce a semi-professional football league. The league failed to attract the fans. The number of fans at matches throughout the league turned out to be much less than expected.
FAT should know very well that why the league could not attract the fans and should realise that the most important factor is the fans themselves. Any league cannot survive without supporters or fans.
The attempt to bring provincial teams to join the professional league is a very good idea because they help create a large following, which is essential to make the league a success. Football is probably the most popular sport in Thailand. I believe that more than a million Thais play football. We can see that every district has a football team and almost every empty space is occupied by football players. We can see that many basketball courts almost everywhere have been turned into mini-football grounds. Thai kids love to play football more than basketball.
When I made a trip to the southern province of Yala, where the 1999 National Youth Games took place, last month I could see that many vacant pieces of land, even the dried paddy fields, were occupied by boys playing football. During my trip to the south, I also learned from SAT's officers in Surat Thani that they organise a big football tournament every year. There are more than ten teams taking part and the crowd is always satisfactory. So, I truly believe that if we really want to have a successful professional league, we should start from the provinces first and let the big provinces, which have SAT offices and stadiums, join in. I believe that fans would love to see their provinces beat a leading Bangkok-based club rather than watching two Bangkok clubs playing each other.
I believe that provincial teams will have the ability to match the metropolitan teams, if FAT or SAT gave them enough support and provided them with a good coach. Provincial teams can be managed more easily than the teams in Bangkok, because they will have less logistical costs involved. Above all, I believe that upcountry players will be more eager to train in trying to earn fame for themselves.
I hope that the seminar today will end up with a plan to throw full support to provincial teams and hope that FAT will be able to work out an effective competition programme.
No comments:
Post a Comment