Jharkhand barred from participating in Santosh Trophy, National Women's championship

By Anuj Mishra
New Delhi [India], November 23 : No team from Jharkhand will be able to compete in the Santosh Trophy and Women's championship due to "internal conflict" within the management of the Jharkhand Football Association (JFA), the All India Football Federation (AIFF) said.
In a letter to the state sports department and JFA, AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das alleged that the football governing body of India received two independent teams for both the competitions and the apex body of the state for football did not resolve the issue of multiple entrant requests.
The letter accessed by ANI reads, "The AIFF received two independent teams for both the competitions, one recommended by the Chairman- Hony. Secretary while one recommended by the President- Jt. Secretary."
"Upon receiving four (4) lists in total from the JFA, the AIFF entered into resolution communication with the management of JFA immediately.
"However, despite the AIFF's repeated attempts to ensure that the rights of the players and the chance of the Member Association to participate in national competitions are not affected, the JFA committee did not resolve the issue," it added.
According to AIFF, team reporting for the State of Jharkhand, for the Women's championship is on Thursday and for the Santosh Trophy is on November 28.
"In this regard, to ensure that the sanctity of the competitions is protected and the fact that in any case no team from JFA would be able to reach the required venue within the timeline (as other personnel including referees also need to reach on time for conducting the matches), the AIFF has decided to not entertain any teams from the JFA for the aforementioned competitions," the letter further read.
AIFF said it is "highly unfortunate" that athletes had to suffer due to JFA management as they were not willing to resolve the issue.
"It is highly unfortunate that players from JFA are unable to participate in such prestigious competitions which provide a livelihood to participating players," the letter said.
"To see that the JFA management was not willing to resolve the conflict even after repeated requests by the AIFF, in the interest of the players is disheartening," it added.
"The JFA with absolute disregard to the development of players within the State of Jharkhand, have failed to resolve their conflict. Thus, leaving the AIFF with no choice but to reject all four lists received from the JFA for the Santosh Trophy and the Women's championship," the AIFF concluded.