Rajasthan left to play with 9 men

Kalyani (WB), Dec. 26: In a bizarre development, debutants Rajasthan United were left to play their maiden I-League match against Punjab Football Club on Sunday with just nine players, instead of 11, due to the confusion over the registration of amateurs.

The Jaipur-based side, which had made it to the ILeague after winning the qualifying tournament in October, acknowledged that the situation arose due to “errant decision making” by the club.

Rajasthan United said the All India Football Federation refused its request to postpone the match to January when they can have enough players with new signings. It also took a dig at their opponents — Punjab FC — for refusing to play the match later.

The AIFF, on its part, said it had acted as per rules which were approved by the world governing body FIFA.

“We retained minimal players from the qualifiers and sought to get better players for the higher league — seeing as the competition is undoubtedly higher,” Rajasthan United said in a statement.

“The AIFF issued a statement to all clubs on 14th Dec 2021 stating that these teams could field amateur players who be allowed to play as such till December 31, 2021. Respecting the statement, RUFC registered a significant number of amateurs.

“A second statement released on 21st Dec said that amateur players signed on or before August 31 would be allowed to play in the league.”

The club had no way to sign professional players after winning the I-League Qualifiers as the JuneAugust transfer window (for professional players) had already ended by then. The second transfer window begins only on January 1.