‘With 90% matches played, GPL should have winner’

Panaji:Sporting Clube de Goa will contest the Goa Football Association’s decision if they decide to abandon the Goa Professional League.
The GFA is expected to hold an executive committee meeting – the first in more than six months – later this month or early August to decide on the fate of several leagues. While most decisions will be straightforward, the Goa Professional League could be complicated.
When GFA decided to keep the GPL on hold due to coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown, Sporting had just two games left to play and were close to clinching their fifth title.
Sporting led the standings with 44 points and Dempo SC were second with 41 points, but only had a game in hand and no chance of overtaking Sporting due to an inferior head to head record. However, Churchill Brothers FC (37 points), were third in the standings with five games in hand, including a crucial tie against Sporting that could have been the title decider. Crucially, Sporting had won the first leg 3-2.
Sporting have provided examples of leagues in France and England where sporting merit and points per game were used to decide champions. The club also believes that it would be criminal to not have a winner, particularly when 90 percent of the matches were completed.
“It has to be noted that of the 132 matches only 13 matches are yet to be played with a total 119 matches being played. When 90% of the matches have been played, what sense does it make not to have a winner? The GFA has an important decision to make,” said Welvin Menezes, CEO of Sporting Clube.
Menezes is also a member of the executive committee and will make his voice heard when the committee meets. Part of the problem, according to the club, is frequent postponements.
“It was decided at an executive committee meeting to finish as many matches as possible of Churchill Brothers before the commencement of the I-League, which was not done due to reasons best known to the GFA secretariat. This is the main reason why the league could not be concluded. Churchill still have five games to be played,” said Menezes.
Most state leagues are held early in the season. For some states, winners get a chance to qualify for the Second Division I-League, while players who impressed make a move to either second division or I-League. In Goa, though, the league has dragged on for the full season.
“Had the league concluded earlier, players would be free to get a transfer (during the second transfer window) and play in the Second Division I-League. Delay in concluding the league resulted in players being deprived of opportunities to play in higher leagues,” said Menezes.