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In an unprecedented development clubs owned or sponsored by the corporate sector have told the All India Football Federation in no uncertain terms that either it conducts the National League in a professional manner of face the prospect of a parallel league.

It was cricket off the field last week but it still dominated the national scene as no other game has ever done before. The CBI report on the match-fixing so absorbed the entire country, politicians included that a major event like elections to the Indian Olympic Association.<

Corporate India's interest in cricket is slowly being revived. While it is still too early to say if the interest level will match its earlier passion before the match-fixing scandal broke out, industry watchers now feel that cricket is still the best bet especially for the fast-moving consumer goods on the sub-continent.

The football scene picked up momentum with the seasons first major tournament outside of Calcutta, the Durand providing some really absorbing matches in Delhi last week.

Jammu and Kashmir, which generally makes front page news, figured prominently on the sports pages when its cricket team made history of sorts by qualifying for the second stage of the Ranji Trophy championship from the North Zone league.

Indian football is in for drastic changes if the agreement between the All India Football Federation and the Indian Premier Football Association reached last week is any guide.

All expectations of a close battle belied as the old order re-established itself in the All India Football Federation (AIFF) elections on Saturday. Under heavy pressure during the last one month from the recently formed Indian Premier Football Association (IPFA), Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, the reigning president of AIFF pulled out all his trumps to ensure a verdict in his favour.

By sacking coach Bhaskaran and skipper Ramandeep Singh the Indian Hockey Federation has followed the unfortunate precedent set after the Asian Games in Bangkok in 1998.

The two-year ban on former BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) president Inderjit Singh Bindra, announced at the special general body meeting in Chennai last week.

Recalled hockey coach Cedric D'Souza will be the first to admit that he has learnt very little from his experiments during the India-Germany hockey Tests which concluded at Chennai on Sunday.

The euphoria over the performance of Pulella Gopichand in the All England Badminton Championship is understandable.

The International Cricket Conference appears to have, for the time being, found a way to sort out the issue raised by Pakistan on its cricketing relations with India.