Football coach to leave Kashmir due to death threats

Srinagar, Mar 28 (PTI) Argentine football coach Juan
Marcos, who started and International Football Academy Trust
to train the valley's youth four years ago, has decided to
leave following death threats and attacks on him over the past
three months.
"I got a threatening phone call few days back. The
caller said that I and my family will be killed in three days.
So, I have decided to leave Kashmir," Marcos told PTI.
He said he had passed the information to the local
police but they have not been cooperative.
Marcos said it all started in January when one of his
dogs was mysteriously killed a couple of days before the
Republic Day celebrations.
"The next day my second dog was poisoned and a couple
of days later, my vehicle was vandalised and the brakes
failed," he said.
Marcos claimed that the authorised service dealer for
his Mahindra vehicle told him that the 'brake failure' was not
accidental but a deliberate act of sabotage.
"I had come here to teach young people football but
when my security and that of my family is compromised, I
better leave this place," he added.
Marcos arrived in Kashmir four years ago on a short
visit but decided to set up a permanent base after being
impressed by the raw talent here.
He set up an academy and sent three players to Brazil
for training with some leading clubs under an exchange
programme which saw some upcoming players from the Brazil
visiting Kashmir as well.
Sources in the Jammu and Kashmir Football Association
said the threats and attacks on Marcos were handiwork of some
disgruntled elements including a senior player from the valley
and a local club affiliated with the Association.
"They have been carrying out a false propaganda
against Marcos that he is preaching Christianity in Kashmir,
which is a bundle of lies," an official of the JKFA said on
condition of anonymity.
The official said the initiative of the Argentine
coach had unnerved some vested interests as it has spread the
game across the valley.
"Now the aspiring footballers did not need to lick to
boots of a few club owners. There was an alternative and these
vested interests want to wipe out that alternative," he added.
The official said all the programmes of Marcos in the
valley were being run under the aegis of the JKFA.
The official said the Association was helpless and
could not act against these elements as police has not acted
on the complaint filed by the coach.
A senior police official said Marcos was living in a
protected area and as such faced no threat. "We will find out
what exactly the problem is. If he is worried about his
security, we will ensure that he does not leave on that
count," he added.
Marcos has been in trouble several times in the past
as well. He was beaten up by security forces at the height of
Amarnath Land Row agitation in 2008 but the matter was later
resolved amicably.
He was asked to leave the country last year as the
Union Home Ministry had refused to extend his stay in the
valley. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah intervened to ensure that
he continues to coach the youth of the valley.