Ranjit Bajaj : 350 people including players and staff to lose livelihood if Minerva Punjab closes
Ranjit Bajaj has stated that around 350 people, which include academy players, training personnel and ground staffs, would lose their jobs if Minerva Punjab shuts shop. He also said that both Chennai City FC and Real Kashmir were left with no choice but to participate in the AIFF Super Cup.
While the turmoil in which Minerva Punjab is currently toiling in is widely known and debated, not many know how much the shutting down of such an organization would affect those whose livelihoods depend on it. The huge Minerva Punjab FC campus has as many as seven football fields, a swimming pool, gym, a physiotherapy
In the Minerva School of Sports Excellence, which is affiliated to ICSE, the kids are given free education and have 100 percent scholarship. And Ranjit Bajaj has said that the club shutting down all of a sudden will leave them with nowhere to go.
“We are the largest residential academy club in India and the only club to have the U-7, U- 9, U-11, U-13, U-15, and U-18, which has over 250 kids apart from the senior team. They will have nowhere to go,” said Ranit Bajaj to Sportscafe over a phone call.
“There are over 50 staff members apart from the 30 to 40 workers that include the coaches, physios, etc and the staff including the groundsmen, gardeners and all. Hence, around 350 people lose their jobs and livelihoods.”
Amidst their ongoing tussle with AIFF, the Odisha Sports Authority had put the final nail in the coffin by
“If they had told us 30 days ago, we would have changed the venue. They intentionally told us 28 days prior. We can’t even change the venue now. If I don’t have the venue I will be fined 200, 000 dollars per match and I will be banned. So, I don’t really have much option other than shutting shop,” said Bajaj.
The club, however, has made a late request to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) so that they advise the Kalinga Stadium authorities to delay their renovation of the stadium in order to accommodate the club’s home games in the AFC Cup.
“I’ve come to know it is all up to AIFF now. If the AIFF wants, the Odisha government will give us the venue. We are not playing just some tournament. We are playing an AFC tournament, Asia’s biggest tournament, and we are representing India as the champions of India. And If my parent body is going to get me banned for five years by AFC, what is the point of playing? So, we have put in a request,” asked Bajaj.
It all started when three clubs, Gokhulam Kerala, Aizawl FC, and Minerva decided to forfeit the Super Cup to force a meeting with AIFF President Praful Patel concerning the glum future of I-League. Since then almost all the clubs, barring Chennai City and Real Kashmir, have joined the protest and consequently, Patel has agreed to meet the clubs although the clubs giving
Patel, after becoming the first Indian to be elected to the FIFA council, has slammed the I-League clubs calling their
“Praful Patel doesn’t understand. Forget about Super Cup, it is just a bloody Super simple Cup. We are talking about shutting down all huge clubs. We are talking about the future of the league. We never wanted to talk to him about the Super Cup. We wanted to talk to him about the league’s future and its clubs. Gokhulam, Aizawl, Minerva decided not to play for the future of the league and all clubs. If they had played that day, Mr. Praful Patel wouldn’t have sent that letter of wanting to meet us.”
Though most teams pulled out Chennai City and Real Kashmir participated in the pre-quarterfinals. While Real Kashmir lost to ATK in the
“Every club followed suit apart from Chennai City as they were also threatened to have their AFC campaigns destroyed. Real Kashmir didn’t have any option but to play for they get a grant from their government of 2 crores rupees per year. They had to listen to their government who asked them to play,” said Bajaj.
Ranjit also stated that running a football club cost him around 3 crores a year of which he gives 2 crores from his pocket. Now with everything said and done and AIFF’s take on the I-League still in darkness, it seems smart to have football lovers like Ranjit Bajaj around, who are willing to pump in money into it, if the betterment of Indian football is a common aim.
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