I-League: Rajasthan Utd turn up with only 9 men

KALYANI: 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 I-League 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.

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

Punjab won the game 2-0. “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 Dec 14 stating that these teams could field amateur players who be allowed to play as such till Dec 31. Respecting the statement, RUFC registered a significant number of amateurs.

“A second statement released on Dec 21 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 June-August transfer window (for professional players) had already ended by then. The second transfer window begins only on Jan 1.

Meanwhile, defending champions Gokulam Kerala FC began with a 1-0 win over Churchill Brothers while Indian Arrows and TRAU played out a 0-0 draw.