I-League 2021-22: Huge blow for debutants Rajasthan United ahead of RPFC clash

Kolkata: Rajasthan United Football Club, are about to play their opener in I-League on December 26, with just nine players. Rajasthan United earned their place in the league after they won the I-league qualifiers back in October.

For their maiden game, Rajasthan United would not be able to field eleven players due to player registration restrictions. The players that Rajasthan United signed can only be registered in the Centralised Registration System (CRS) on January when the winter transfer window opens. This implies that, during their clash against RoundGlass Punjab on Sunday(December 26), the club will be able to field only nine names. Out of those nine players, seven of them are debutants, and they have never featured in the I-League previously.

The club issued a statement which read, “The AIFF issued a statement to all clubs on 14th Dec’21 stating that teams facing these problems could field amateur players, who would be allowed to play as such till December 31, 2021. Respecting the statement RUFC registered a significant number of their players as amateurs for the time period they gave.”

“A second statement released on 21st Dec’21 though, put our pans in jeopardy. The statement said that amateur players signed before/on 31st August 2021 would be allowed to play in the league. This put the club in a major predicament, as we had already registered a majority of our players as amateurs following the initial statement by the federation.”

“It also meant that going into our first game against Round Glass Punjab FC on December 26, 2021, we would run short of players eligible for the game. RUFC requested the league to consider postponing the fixture to help avoid embarrassment this would cause not just to the club but also the league, our opponents, and Indian football itself.”