NEW DELHI: It was scheduled as a 2 pm kick-off for home side Real Kashmir FC against Minerva Punjab FC at the TRC Polo SyntheticTurf Ground in Srinagar Monday and as expected the defending Hero I-League champions did a no show.
Real Kashmir were subsequently handed a 3-0 walkover and three points from the match. They lie third on the I-League table with 32 points from 16 games, trailing leaders Chennai City by 2 points and second-placed East Bengal on goal difference. Minerva are ninth in the 11-team table with 14 points.
Real Kashmir’s matches at the TRC Ground in Srinagar have mostly been played in front of sell-out crowds amidst high security. For their first match against Churchill Brothers, the fans had to go through three layers of security while negotiating the final 50 yards that took them to the stands. The routine has been followed for other home games as well.
The teams that have travelled to Kashmir have received extra protection as well, with a security vehicle and nearly a dozen personnel being present with them at all times.
It bears noting that Minerva had warned the All India Football Federation that they would move court if Real Kashmir were awarded 3 points from the match on account of the Punjab outfit’s “forfeiture”.
Minerva owner Ranjit Bajaj has been vocal about their stand following the ghastly terror attack on 14 February in Pulwama, which took the lives of more than 40 CRPF soldiers and left several injured to varying degrees.
The club has all along maintained that that their request for written assurances from the Union home ministry and government authorities in J&K has not been fulfilled by the AIFF. Additionally, its foreign players were advised not to travel to the region by their respective embassies.
What remains to be seen though, is how the AIFF handles the next “home” fixture of Real kashmir, which is on February 28 and involves Quess East Bengal FC. For the record, the Kolkata giants have also urged the AIFF to move their game against Real Kashmir out of Srinagar.
Incidentally, Football Delhi, the governing body fr the Beautiful Game in the National Capital Region, offered on Monday to host Real Kashmir’s home matches.
Speaking to IANS on the matter Sunday, Bajaj had said: “They are trying to pass on routine arrangements as special arrangements. We are not for a no-show. We will appeal if Real Kashmir is given three points. We have never said we forfeited any match.”
“We have not got any kind of written assurances. I know the AIFF is going around and saying they have given the assurance. But all they have given is an email from the match commissioner sitting there, saying everything is fine on the ground and the deputy SP has said everything is okay.
“This is not a written assurance. A match, taking place at a venue where the worst terror attack has happened, should be cleared by the proper authorities. If not, the home ministry then maybe the Indian Army. Someone who can actually take charge of events so soon after the attacks.”
Minerva co-owner Heena Bajaj has also accused the AIFF of double standards and partiality in this context, citing the postponement of the East Bengal match last week over ‘few inches of snow’.
“Why should we forfeit the match? We want to play at a safe venue. Is it too much for us to ask that? Just tell us anywhere, anytime except there right now. It’s just too soon and too close to where everything has happened.
“If they could cancel the East Bengal match last week, why can’t they cancel this match till such a time when it’s safer to play or move it to a neutral venue?” Ms Bajaj asked.
