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Sports and superstitions have always been parallel, with some of the most famous sportsmen having beliefs, and faith and used to engage in weird rituals before or after the game. Tiger Wood's obsession with the colour red, Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar wearing a pad on his left leg before the right one and MS Dhoni getting his head shaved after winning the 50-over World Cup in 2011 are amongst a few of the many such beliefs we have seen.
In the latest development, the All India Football Federation reportedly hired an astrology agency which motivated and inspired the national side to seal their berth in the 24-team AFC Asian Cup Final. As per source-based reports, an astrologer was appointed for the National team ahead of the Asian Cup.
"Later, it came to light that the motivator was associated with an astrology firm. Approximately, INR 16 Lakh was paid to the company for three sessions which he took with the Blue Tigers," claimed the report. However, a report published in PTI quoted an anonymous Kolkata-based player refuting the report and claimed that he neither heard of any such thing nor participated in any such activity since joining the team.
Former Indian goal-keeper Tanumoy Bose slammed AIFF for becoming a laughing stock as he stated that the federation has repeatedly failed to conduct proper youth leagues and many prestigious tournaments were forced to shut down. "Incidents like this will further tarnish the image of Indian football," he said.
Adding further, he suggested CoA to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter and must 'find out who all are responsible for it.'
"Many scams are waiting to see the light of the day," he concluded.
Notably, the Supreme Court had last month appointed a three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) to manage the affairs of AIFF, ending Praful Patel's long reign at the helm.