Hopes end, Gokulam Kerala asked to return home from Tashkent

Panaji: It’s all over for Gokulam Kerala FC.
Whatever little hopes the Indian Women’s League (IWL) champions had of taking part in the AFC Women’s Club Championship in Uzbekistan ended after the sports ministry, which was in talks with FIFA and AFC, told them they have to return home without taking part in the tournament.
It’s a cruel blow for the Indian champions who had landed in Taskhent on Tuesday morning, only to greeted with news that FIFA has banned India.
“We have been forced to come back,” club president VC Praveen told TOI on Saturday. “Without the ban being lifted, we cannot take part in the competition. We are now looking to book tickets to return home.”
Jordanian Orthodox Club have pulled out of the pilot tournament, leaving the organisers with just two teams, both of whom will now play amongst themselves for a place in the final between winners of east and west zone.
“We are a five-year-old club, but we have made best efforts to improve Indian football. We spent a lot of money on making the women’s team stronger so that we could represent India and win laurels. More than financial loss for the club, the emotional toll this would have on the players is hard to take,” said Praveen.
Instead of signing players after looking only at videos, Gokulam Kerala officials visited Ghana, Cameroon and Kenya to scout players this season. They signed two Ghanaians and one Kenyan among the four foreigners.
All of them will now have little to do for the rest of the season.
After all, for the Kerala Women’s League, teams can field only one foreign player in the starting 11. It’s the same for the IWL too.
Asian competitions allow the use of four foreign players, including one from an AFC-registered country.
“I have told the players, FIFA can deny us only this year. Let’s fight, win the IWL and come back stronger next year. I know my team is strong enough to overcome the hurdles,” said Praveen.
From last year’s AFC Women’s Club Championship squad, several players got noticed and moved to bigger leagues.
Manisha Kalyan became the first Indian to play in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers with Apollon Ladies FC, while Dangmei Grace moved to Uzbekistan. Soumya Guguloth and Jyoti Chauhan are currently trialling in Croatia.
Many from the current Gokulam Kerala squad were nursing dreams of making similar jumps, only to be cruelly denied.