Spend money on national league, not short-term target	Inside Story Archives
By,Wanchai Rujawongsanti  Bnagkok Post
Key members of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) held a brainstorming meeting at the weekend to work on an ambitious project to take the Kingdom to their first-ever World Cup finals in 2006. They are scheduled to meet Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra today to discuss the plan or, in other words, ask him to approve a huge budget estimated at 250-300 million baht for the project. The brainstorming session concluded that the scheme would need a budget in the that range which would include 90 million baht for a top coach and his staff, 100 million baht for the salaries of 50 players and 60 million baht for other costs. Another move which demonstrates their vision and ambition is that they will from now on call the national side the ``Real Team'' with the current Olympic and SEA Games squads forming the backbone of the team. The officials may be hoping that one day the Thai national squad will be as good as Spanish giants Real Madrid. The proposed budget, if approved by the government, would be boost towards helping Thailand's World Cup finals dream come true. However, I don't think the prime minister will give his nod to the requested financial support even though he has recently initiated several costly projects such as cheap houses and computers for low-income people. The requested budget could be a waste of money considering that it is only about one year before the 2006 World Cup qualifiers begin. With such a short time left and with the current players we have, it is unlikely to turn a cat into a tiger. The officials may need a magician for the job rather than a good coach. It is not surprising that the FAT often comes up with a costly short-term plan as this wins more publicity than a long-term scheme. It appears that officials are not so keen about looking at a fundamental factor which would lead to a strong national team _ a popular and successful national league. After two seasons, the new-look Thai League is still not very popular, while the Provincial League is said to be more popular among fans in the provinces but is a relatively-unknown competition among fans in the capital. There is no doubt that Thailand are the best team in Southeast Asia, having won the SEA Games five times in a row. The fact that a lot of Thai players are employed by teams in Singapore and Vietnam also shows how good Thai players are. On the other hand, this indicates that our league is not good enough to attract our best players. Sports and soccer officials have again recently raised the idea of merging the Thai League, which is organised by the FAT, and the Provincial League, which is sanctioned by the Sports Authority of Thailand. But they are worried that they would be short of money to support teams at the beginning of a new national league. If the two leagues are merged and it becomes a true soccer league with teams taking on each other on a home-and-away basis, the main problem would be money as teams would have to spend a lot on travelling and other expenses. The FAT plans to ask for hundreds of millions of baht from the government for the World Cup project, but the money would be better spent on forming a new national league. If a true national league is deemed too expensive, then we could begin with regional leagues and the winners of each regional competition would then play in Bangkok or other provinces to determine the national champions. The Thailand Cup was popular and successful under this format years ago until a conflict between organisers and sponsors and other problems killed it off. For the short-term ambition of Thailand reaching the World Cup finals, FAT secretary-general Worawi Makudi may be able to lend a helping hand. Worawi, a Fifa executive member, can help by backing the proposal to increase teams for the 2006 finals from 32 to 36 teams. The Fifa executive committee has approved in principle the proposal initiated by the South Americans and it will make a final decision on the matter next week. This may be a difficult decision for Worawi, an ally of Fifa president Sepp Blatter who recently voiced opposition to a 36-team finals. If the 36-team tournament is approved, Asia is very likely to receive another place for the 2006 World Cup and this would improve Thailand's chance of reaching the finals in Germany. A bigger World Cup may cause some problems for the hosts but that has nothing to do with us. Our only aim is to win a place in the finals. If 36 teams are still not enough for Thailand, then we may ask for an automatic berth for Southeast Asia. Fifa has allocated an automatic finals spot to Oceania where soccer is far less popular than rugby and several other sports. So why can't Southeast Asia receive the same favour?