I-League | Minerva Punjab forfeit match against Real Kashmir amidst security concerns
After the All India Football Federation (AIFF) didn’t agree to Minerva Punjab’s request to relocate their game against Real Kashmir FC out of Srinagar, the defending champions have decided not to travel to Srinagar and forfeit the game. Real Kashmir will get all the three points from this game.
Minerva Punjab wrote a letter, accessed by PTI, to the AIFF stating that they don’t want to take any risk travelling to Srinagar after the Pulwama terror attack on the CRPF soldiers on Thursday some 20 km away from the Srinagar Airport. The Punjab-based club also said that the foreign players in their team have been asked by the respective nations’ embassies to not to travel there. Minerva also added that it had asked the national federation to give security assurances but the team didn’t get any.
“...we regret to inform you that this is not a risk that we are ready to take hence we shall not be travelling to the turbulent region. Considering the extraordinary circumstances following the Pulwama attack just 20Km from Srinagar Airport, the Ministry of Home affairs need to approve the football match being held. If the CRPF convoys are not safe, then we are very soft targets for such attacks,” the Punjab club said in its letter to the AIFF.
“We had asked for written assurance and permission from Ministry of Home Affairs which we still haven’t got from your or Home team’s end. Please note that our foreign players have already received Travel Advisory Warnings from their respective embassies asking them not to travel to Srinagar till further notice. ...alternately we are ready to play in Delhi, Chandigarh or any other neutral venue.”
Earlier, I-League CEO Sunando Dhar had said yesterday that the AIFF has received a go-ahead from the local security in-charge people for the game at TRC Turf Ground in J&K’s state capital. He had also mentioned that the federation was assured of all the security arrangements by the local authorities in Srinagar.
“Our officials are already in Srinagar in preparation of the match. I have spoken to the match commissioner and he told me that the situation in Srinagar is currently normal. The local security in-charge of the match has also assured full security to the players, officials and all those related to the match,” Dhar told PTI on Saturday.
However, Minerva owner Ranjit Bajaj has decided against playing in Srinagar and said that the situation in Srinagar is certainly not normal at the moment and the club has no second thought in forfeiting the match.
“We are not going to play the match, we will forfeit it. We have decided it and I have no second thought in doing that,” Minerva owner Ranjit Bajaj told PTI.
“The AIFF wants to portray that the situation in Srinagar is normal but it is not normal there.”
Real Kashmir will get all the three points from the match against the defending champions and now the first-timers will move on to 35 points from 17 matches.
