CHENNAI: The writing was on the wall. Ever since FIFA (world football body) imposed a ban on All India Football Federation (AIFF0, Gokulam Kerala FC were hoping for a miracle to take part in the AFC Women’s Club Championship until the start of the event on Saturday. They were fighting a lost cause even though the sports ministry had made a last-minute plea to both the FIFA and the AFC to include them.
Even though they had learnt about the suspension only after reaching Uzbekistan (host country), they were technically out of the competition once the FIFA ban was imposed. As reported by this daily, they were not part of the official fixture until Friday, just 24 hours ahead of the start of West group matches, where the Kerala club was supposed to be part of. Add to the fact that the AIFF mess will take some time to be sorted, the clock was always ticking for them. On Saturday, it was confirmed that they will not be part of the event with the sports ministry asking the team to return to the country instead. The team, who were staying in Tashkent, is expected to come home on Monday.
This latest development is a huge knock for the team, who had earned the right to play in the event and had spent hours of training behind the scenes to make an impression. The club had invested plenty on players and had forked out lot of money in order to send them to Uzbekistan. The Ashalata Devi-led side must be shattered as this was a rare opportunity for them to shine and make a name for themselves.
Ban Khatoon FC (Iran) and Sogdiana-W (Uzbekistan), the remaining two teams in the group, played out a 1-1 draw in the opener on Saturday. The two teams will meet again for title decider on August 23, the day Gokulam Kerala were originally supposed to start their campaign.