Bangalore:
A day after an Indian professional footballer died on the football ground due to lack of medical attention, All India Football Federation (AIFF) President Praful Patel said that strict action would be taken against those who would be found guilty of negligence.
Speaking to NDTV, Mr Patel said, "It's unfortunate but to attribute it only to the football management would be absolutely, I would say ridiculous," he said.
"We don't know the cause as yet as to what exactly happened. Basically, all major matches and all the tournaments do have medical facilities available on stand-by like in any other game. In any tournament, there are some standard procedures that are there. If for some reasons, something has gone wrong we will take action," he said.
27-year-old D Venkatesh's death on the field yesterday has served as a stark reminder of all that is still lacking in terms of basic infrastructure when it comes to sports. Venkatesh, a striker for Bangalore Mars, had come on as a late substitute in the home A-League match against South Western Railway on Wednesday. Within minutes, he collapsed on the ground. Because of the absence of an ambulance, he had to be taken to a hospital in an auto-rickshaw. Unfortunately, he did not make it and died on the way to the hospital.
Mr Dhanraj, Venkatesh's father, was present when he saw his son collapse and took him to the Hosmat hospital. "We had to carry him. Even a stretcher there was in poor condition. I found an auto to shift him to a hospital," he said. There was no medical team present, nor was there a first-aid kit available on the stadium during the match.
Yesterday's incident was a chilling reminder of what happened in 2005 when Cristiano Junior had collapsed after an injury during the Federation Cup match. Dempo's Brazilian footballer Cristiano Junior died on the field on December 5 during the in Bangalore.
In 2009, a Manipuri striker was hurt during a super division league match; he later died in the hospital.
The Karnataka Football Association authorities and the players have strikingly different versions of the medical facilities on the Bangalore stadium. While the authorities claim that ambulances are always present, the players call these claims a 'joke'.
Krishna Narayanan, General Secretary of the Karnataka Football Association claimed, "Without ambulance we never will conduct a match in the future. We have been doing it that way. This match we didn't have one only because there was some drainage work because of which roads were blocked."
The players talk of a different reality. They have dismissed the associations claim on the availability of an ambulance and have alleged that the lower league match players are given a 'step-motherly' treatment.
"It is not true that ambulances are always there. Even a medical doctor or nurse is never there," says Baba Das, another midfielder.
Joshua Victor, a striker, said, "When we are hurt, however serious the injury may be, we only get ice cubes to keep on the injury."
The All India Football Federation said that it has launched an inquiry into the incident. "We have asked the Karnataka state association to give us a detailed report on the incident. We need to understand why an ambulance was not available," federation secretary Kushal Das told Agence France Presse.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka State Football Association has announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to Venkatesh's family.