New Delhi, Aug 11 - Senior officials of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) now feel that they should have entered into a participation agreement with the teams playing in the Nehru Cup and that would have saved the federation from the embarrassment Thailand and Palestine caused by choosing to send nondescript junior teams.

The officials felt the organising committee could have taken steps to make sure all the participating nations sent their senior teams for the tournament starting here Aug 19, though they agree that no such precautions were taken when the 2007 edition was played.

The officials felt the AIFF secretary-general Alberto Colaco landed himself in a spot by not entering into the participation agreement -- a norm all organisers of international tournaments follow.

Though Colaco refused to say anything on the fiasco, AIFF's competition director Anil Kamath told IANS that the teams were invited in an atmosphere of goodwill and no way there could have been any agreement in such a situation.

'Even in 2007 we had no agreement with the participating teams and it was a great success.