Padma Shri and former Indian National Football Team Captain Bhaichung Bhutia delivering the 1st Dr T Ao Memorial Lecture at Durbar Hall, Raj Bhavan, Kohima on January 28. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter Photo)
Padma Shri and former Indian National Football Team Captain delivers 1st Dr T Ao Memorial Lecture in Kohima
Morung Express News
Kohima | January 28
“If you have the talent and passion, you’ll get spotted,” Padma Shri and former Indian National Football Team Captain Bhaichung Bhutia told football enthusiasts in Nagaland on Monday.
He was delivering the 1st Dr T Ao Memorial Lecture commemorating the 100th Birth Anniversary of Dr Talimeren Ao, the first Naga Olympian and India’s first football team captain at Durbar Hall, Raj Bhavan, Kohima on January 28.
Reflecting on the life of the Naga football legend, Bhutia said that it was not easy to be from the North East and to play in a club such as Mohun Bagan.
“It was something of an impossibility, but T Ao not just played for the club but also went to ‘Captain’ the nation at the London Olympics in 1948,” he added.
Bhutia, who is a recipient of the Arjuna Award and arguably one of the most iconic names to have worn the Indian National Team jersey, however expressed his disappointment in not seeing exemplary footballers in the state as set by T Ao, himself and the lack of Nagas in the field of football.
The only Indian to be inducted into Asian Football Confederation’s ‘Hall of Fame,’ he also lamented that Nagaland has just one AFC licensed coach and that there should be many more.
Nonetheless, expressing his enthusiasm at the newly inaugurated astro turf football ground and the inter-district football tournaments, the ‘Sikkimese Sniper’ was optimistic that it would “will kindle more sportsmen and footballers in the pursuit of football as a career.”
‘Nagas are second to none in football and that all they need is proper motivation,’ he added.
He called upon the Nagas to start slowly, and start promoting the sportsmen which will eventually see the rise of many sportsmen.
Bhutia further shared how he grew up in a small, remote place in Sikkim with no television but that the ‘environment and culture for football was huge.’
“The village organized tournaments and encouraged football which motivated players.”
Speaking on the infrastructure, Bhutia stressed that ‘interest’ is more important, rather than infrastructure to excel in the one chosen field, citing examples of footballers such as Pele, Maradona who ‘played in slums’.
“Sports teaches way of life and it is very important to teach that”, he said adding that it also teaches a person “how to win and also, how to lose.”
Earlier, the lecture started with introductory remarks by Abu Metha, Asst. Secretary General, Nagaland Olympic Association while Harmonic Voices presented a song.
The lecture, which will now become an annual event, concluded with vote of thanks by Atuo Mezhür, President, Nagaland Football Association.
