A new football order

Local Sports

Naita FC wins KO' 2018A FOOTBALL league that was built on a promise of parity and progress turns out to be anything but a league.

The Fijian Soccer League of Greater Vancouver today serves the veterans, far from the objectives of the people who wanted premier football to retain its competitive edge, glamour and draw a following among the sports fervent.

The opinion is undivided for the fact that defunct leagues, like the Fiji Football Association (FFA) and Pacific League, that later merged with FSLGV, had all boasted premier football.

But some 15-years later, premier competition is dead, contrary to ideology of those that felt FFA and other was a bad run organization. That claim is certainly up for argument and for all the right reasons.

And unlike past years, this year premier football was not part of the knockout competitions, for real lack of clubs in the 15-year running of the league.

Besides, the public support at this years' tournament was at is worse and many at the games venue said given the status of the competition, they're afraid FSLGV will survive in the coming years.

According to football coaching great, Sir Alex Ferguson, the former Manchester United FC mentor, premier football is what gives an organization its identity.

“Premier League draws no comparisons and the parallels to a league within a league”.

“Without it, there’s no proof of an organization”, he writes in his autobiography.

The FSLGV veteran's league that so holds the fort falls under Sir Alex Ferguson’s unrated ‘league, within a league’ claim.

After all the veteran’s competition was the brainchild of Umesh Chand, the former Fiji law enforcement officer whose vision have the hundreds work off that extra lipids by getting them involved in the sport they loved.

Chand started off with a few clubs that soon drew an enormous attention and became a movement and following the shutdown of the premier league this year, Chand's legacy saved FSLGV from the embarrassment of becoming another defunct body.

It must though be said that the lack of development, foresight and good governance have not only failed FSLGV, it is also the ego of the hordes who continue to ignore the many reforms to raise the bar of the competitions and unless good sense prevails the worst of it is yet to come.

What was a 22 team, two division, 11 each premier and division one league during the FFA era, to a no premier football raises the sporting know- how of very people who severed all ties with former associations with a promise of parity and progress.

It is anything but.

Comments 

 

+2 #1 Thank You — Umesh Ratu 2018-05-14 18:13

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Sportsone for recognizing me as always.

Vinaka vakalevu.

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