The following are the problems, in my opinion, which hinder the development of football at junior level.

1. Lying about age. I have personally seen under-18 boys playing in under-16s. The `cheat' may excel in this age group, but once he gets past the age-group levels, he may not be able to withstand the pressure at the higher levels. These kids are cheating themselves. But I would blame the coaches and organisations they represent in their greed for short-terms gains.

2. Unavailability of playing grounds in Mumbai. How many schools in Mumbai have their own grounds for practice, especially schools in South Mumbai? If suburban schools are doing better thanschools in the town, it's because they have their own grounds.

3. I have been a teacher for 30 years in Holy Name, Colaba, and I found out that the Indian education system doesn't encourage sports. The modern education system is not sports-friendly; it doesn't give the required time for sporting pursuits. A student's entire day is taken up by academics -- attending school and tuition. Schools should finish by 2 p.m so that students can have time for other activities. Players at school level become jaded by the time they enter junior college.

4. Most Indian parents feel that children will not get much out of sports as there is no guarantee that playing well will get him a lucrative job.

Football is accepted as a profession in European and Latin American countries. We need a professional set up which will give initiative to players to come forward and take up football as a profession. I agree with Sunil Gavaskar when he says that television is an idiot box which is killing the sport at grass-rootlevels.

Our collegiate set-up is bad. If you see the record breaking performances the world over, they are from the Universities.

To make things worse, the entry of politicians in sports have ruined everything. Politics will have to be flushed out of sports if the latter has to flourish.

If soccer has to be nurtured at the grass-root levels, then, firstly, we have to set up a large number of football academies all over the country. And as we have a professional league (National Football League) we should have more teams for second division.

Secondly, parents should be given a guarantee that their children will be absorbed as players with some companies. They need to be assured that their children will get something back from the sport.

Thirdly, sports associations and organisations should not be made to suffer from lack of finance.

And, fourthly, former internationals should come forward to help train smaller teams. They can give advice, involve themselves and supervise the activities of clubs andorganisation.

(Alex Vaz is a former Fifa referee and the only Fifa instructor from India. Presently he is the president of Mumbai Schools Sports Association)
(As told to Kulwinder Singh)