The biggest challenge in front of him would be factionalism and keeping everyone along with him in the future
His primary responsibility should be to facilitate better coordination between DSA and Football Delhi
Overall management and efficient working of women’s football would be another huge challenge in front of him
Rajender Sajwan
Mr. Anuj Gupta is set to become the president of Delhi soccer association (DSA), he is not only the youngest president, he has also been elected unopposed, which in itself is a matter of immense praise. The surrender of bigwigs in favour of a 42-year old youth is remarkable. Though 5 years ago, he was side-lined mentioning him as inexperienced and unpopular. But now, how did the same person become everyone’s favourite?
If we talk about his strengths, before taking up the position of president, he has everything that is required in today’s football and all that others might not have, being the right age, visible maturity, excellent record of Sudeva football academy and the team playing in the I-League, owns the ground and other facilities makes him stand apart from other members and club officials. That means, whenever required he could be a resource in guiding Delhi football efficiently.
The post of DSA president, which went vacant after the promotion of Dr. Shaji Prabhakaran, has been in the news for the last few months, During this, there was a lot of mockery of the post of president. Three presidents left subsequently just within few months, Anuj is now the fourth one in the line.
Anuj now has precious three years to show his ability, for him to be chosen by the association in the next election. Also, He should not forget that DSA president post is full of difficulties. For some time, factionalism is also on full swing, but the good part here is that those who opposed Anuj initially, either surrendered or have been keeping silent till the right time.
He also needs to take utmost care of Association money raised by selling clubs but has been draining away like water. There is a need to garner some big sponsors to form a good team with time. Football in Delhi has now come up as a year-long festival, making better coordination between DSA and football Delhi to be the first priority.
There are many other challenges apart from efficient running of Women’s Football, as the number of women players have increased with time as well as new teams have come up but the surprising fact is that no women members were there in the DSA working Committee till now. Joining of Ms. Akrita Kaur Dhupia recently as unopposed in DSA, depicts a very favourable change.