New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) – The ethnic conflict in Manipur since May last year has affected the performance and mental strength of the players, two football clubs from Imphal said in their petition to the Delhi High Court, while demanding that the decision of the national football association (AIFF) to expel them from the I-League be set aside.
Last month, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) banished NEROCA FC and TRAU FC from the I-League after the two Manipur clubs finished at the bottom of the points table for the 2023-24 season. NEROCA finished 12th with 14 points while TRAU finished 13th and last with 13 points.
Due to the prevailing conditions in Manipur, NEROCA and TRAU could not play their home matches in Imphal. They played five of their home matches in Kalyani, West Bengal while the remaining seven were played in Shillong.
The two clubs had also requested that their respective away matches against Aizawl FC be moved to a neutral venue. Thousands of members of the other ethnic community involved in the conflict had fled to Mizoram.
Later, NEROCA and TRAU refused to travel to Aizawl to play their away matches on April 8 and 12, resulting in the AIFF cancelling the two matches.
The AIFF took the decision to relegate the two clubs to the second division of the I-League despite Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh’s earlier request to exempt the two Imphal-based clubs from relegation, citing ethnic conflict in the state that began on May 3, 2023.
The two clubs have now approached the Delhi HC, which has sent a notice to the AIFF. The hearing in the case will take place on September 6.
“Counsel for the plaintiffs contends that this relegation is arbitrary and does not take into account not only the past performances and results of the plaintiffs but also the social background immediately preceding the qualifiers which were crucial for the ranking of the plaintiffs,” said an order of the single judge bench of the Delhi HC.
Justice Sanjeev Narula’s order passed on July 24 said, “Before the end of the 2022-23 football season, the situation in Manipur became alarming resulting in deaths, vandalism, destruction of properties and communal clashes in the state.” “Due to these communal disturbances and keeping in view the prevailing law and order situation, the venue of the plaintiffs’ I-League matches was shifted to Kalyani Stadium in Kolkata. The teams had to leave the state of Manipur and set up a new ‘home venue’ outside their actual home state.
“Moreover, the mental strength of the players was severely compromised due to the intense fear of imminent destruction of their homes, families and loved ones. Due to these circumstances, the appellants’ teams ended up at the end of the I-League season 2023-24,” the appellants said, according to the order of the single judge HC.
The two clubs submitted to the High Court that the AIFF has the discretion to consider the specific circumstances of a football club and decide on an exemption from relegation.
They said that the AIFF had previously invoked such a power to exempt other football clubs from relegation due to the current situation of the teams.
“The petitioners point out that there have been situations in the past where the AIFF has granted such exemption from relegation to other football clubs as requested by the petitioners. The details of this are set out in the present petitions.
“The petitioners seek parity with these earlier cases where exemptions were granted to other football clubs. They argued that the AIFF should not have taken a rigid approach and ignored the relevant circumstances,” the order said. PTI PDS PDS SSC SSC
