Millennium Cup suffers another setback

The much-hyped Sahara Millennium Cup Super soccer tournament, which has already lost much of its glamour with no big stars to boast of, suffered another setback with Cameroon also pulling out at the last minute.

Cameroon sent a fax to the organisers expressing its inability to participate in the tournament, thus becoming the second team after Iraq to withdraw in the last 48 hours.

''We have received a communication from Cameroon in this regard. They are now bargaining and are asking for more appearance fees. We have asked FIFA to intervene and the position will become clear by tomorrow," All India Football Federation president Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi told a press conference in Calcutta on Tuesday.

He confirmed Iraq's withdrawal from the tournament but said he did not know the reason for it.

''We have informed the Asian Football Confederation to take appropriate steps in this regard. We hope the AFC efforts will yield results,'' he said.

He said if the AFC failed to persuade Iraq to take part, two of the three teams from that group will qualify for the quarter-finals.

He informed that Indonesia, who have been clubbed in Group II -- which also has hosts India in it, have brought a few foreign players in their team which was not permissible under the rules.

The AIFF has sent a fax to the concerned authorities asking them to replace the foreign players with national players since they would not be allowed to play.

''If required the schedule can be rearranged for them so that the replacement players get some time to reach the venue,'' he said.

Wednesday's matches have been interchanged as the Chilean team landed in the city without their baggage which apparently was not loaded in Johannesburg.

Chile, who were scheduled to play the inaugural match against Bahrain in the afternoon, will now play the match under floodlights. The second match between Japan and Uzbekistan will be played first.

"We are expecting that the baggage of the players will reach the city by tomorrow afternoon. We changed the schedule after a request from Chile,'' he explained.

Dasmunshi said that West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee will inaugurate the tournament in the presence of a host of dignitaries while former football great Sailen Manna will be the chief guest. Mamata Shankar's ballet troupe will perform at the opening ceremony.