Legendary football writer Brian Glanville passes away
Brian Glanville, the doyen of football writers passed away at the age of 93 on Friday. Glanville, arguably one of the finest football journalists across the world wrote for Sunday Times for three decades at the same time contributed to World Soccer for nearly five decades. The Times, London described him as the doyen of football writers. In 1960s and 1970s he was the member of the jury board which awards Ballon d’Or. Glanville spent of his career in Italy and was one of the most influential journalists in Italian football. Glanville has written 21 novels and several short stories.
Hyderabad FC to shift base in Delhi; Former internationals like Shabbir, Amalraj disappointed
Former ISL champions, Hyderabad FC, has decided to move over from the City to Delhi “to develop a professionally run football club that reflects the values and aspirations of a new generation of fans in Delhi and across India.” This was the message conveyed by the top brass of HFC to the All India Football Federation, according to an official of the Telangana Football Association. ‘It is disappointing, for sure, not to have a City-based team in the ISL. But again, these are things which are not in our control,” he informed ‘Telangana Today’. The ISL franchise has informed that they possessed “significant land in New Delhi which they have earmarked for and envision as the centre of operations and the future home of our football team and football in Delhi”. For the record, HFC finished 12th in the 13-team League with just four wins from 24 games, with stand-by coach Shameel Chembakath taking care of the team for most of the 2024-25 season after the chief coach Thanboi Singto parted ways in December. However, former India international and captain Shabbir Ali and another former India international Victor Amalraj were disappointed with the decision. Shabbir Ali, the 69-year-old former striker who is the first Indian footballer to have received the prestigious Dhyanchand award, commented, “This will be a big blow for the youngsters. With HFC there the young generation were playing the game to fulfil their dream of becoming professional footballers in the future. HFC and Sreenidi Deccan were an inspiration to them. Now that is shattered.” Amalraj also feels that even though HFC did not have any local footballer HFC created an impact in Hyderabad football through it presence. Now the football lovers, especially the young footballers of this state will have difficulty to identify themselves in the mainstream of Indian football.”
Odisha FC and the state government play the blame game after the club’s premier license gets disapproved by the AIFF
Odisha FC owner Rohan Sharma blamed the state government after the All India Football Federation (AIFF) rejected the premier-1 license for the state’s only professional football club, which participates in the ISL. Sharma took to X to express his anguish over what he called the Odisha government’s lack of support. “I was aware that we were going to fail club licensing this season. Unfortunately, we have no letter from the Government granting us access to the stadium and practice ground this season,” his post stated. Sharma further said, “Despite multiple requests both in person and in letters to have a meeting to discuss the MoU, no one from the government has acknowledged or granted a meeting. I have personally gone to Delhi to speak to very senior ministers to get this resolved. still nothing.” Odisha FC suffered a blow after the AIFF refused to grant a license to it on Thursday. The Club Licensing Committee of AIFF concluded the evaluation process for the Premier-1 License for the 2025–26 season. The national body rejected the license of Odisha FC due to multiple failures across the A and B criteria. Odisha FC had a terrible Kalinga Super Cup 2025 season and faced relegation from the Indian Women’s League (IWL) too. It was the runners-up in 2023-2024 but finished seventh this season. “It feels like the government doesn’t want us in Odisha, which is quite sad. We have tried to be as polite and respectful to build bridges…There is this perceived notion that we are Pro-BJD when in reality, we are so uninvolved in Indian politics. I’m an American citizen, our business is in Dubai, we just have a football club in India that we are investing in,” Sharma’s X post stated. On the other hand, state sports department sources, denying Odisha FC owner’s allegation, said the club was blaming the Odisha government to deflect their miserable performance in the ISL as well as in the IWL this season. According to a report by New Indian Express, an officer revealed on condition of anonymity, “Several meetings were held between the Sports department and Odisha FC management for development of football ecosystem in Odisha. Even 22nd October in 2024 was fixed for the signing of MoU. But the Odisha FC management did not turn up.” More than Rs 50 crore in support and all facilities were given to the club, a senior officer said, adding that, return on investment (ROI) was negligible. “Not even one Odia player featured in the team,” the officer said.
