Minerva Punjab to field their under-23 side next season of I-League

After winning the fourth consecutive title in the Junior League organised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), Minerva Punjab has announced on Twitter that it will play with the under 23 boys in the next edition of the I-League football competition. The former I-League champions had finished 10th on the points table last year as they collected only 17 points from 19 games in the season.

“Minerva Punjab FC has decided that we will field an U23 squad for the next Hero I-League season (2019-20),” read the club statement that was posted on Twitter.

The club and its owner Ranjit Bajaj has been at loggerheads with the football federation in the country. It was even a part of the committee of the club owners who decided to boycott the Super Cup in March and April demanding a meeting with the AIFF president Praful Patel to discuss the future of the I-League clubs in India. 

In another incident, Ranjit Bajaj had declared that he might have to close down the club after the Odisha state government denied them permission to play their AFC Cup game at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar for the renovation of the stadium ahead of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2020. However, things were better for the Punjab-based side as they were later allowed to go ahead and play the match at the same venue in Odisha.