The national federation apologized to Gokulam Kerala FC for its removal from the AFC Women's Club Championship owing to the 11-day ban by FIFA after team owner VC Praveen said that the AIFF's inefficiency has cost the club lakhs of rupees.
The reigning Indian Women's League champions, were the worst affected by the FIFA ban on the AIFF as the Kozhikode-based team was not allowed to compete in the top-tier AFC club competition in Uzbekistan.
During an interview with PTI Praveen said,” It is like pinching the baby and rocking the cradle and because of their inefficiency, we lost lakhs.” The response for such came hours after the ban on AIFF was lifted.
The ban came as a huge loss for Gokulam Kerala as they missed out on a chance to rub shoulders with the best sides in Asia. The team came third in the 2021 edition of the AFC Women's Club Championship. The 23-member team was left stranded in Tashkent after arriving on August 16, 2022, ahead of its opening match against home side Sogdiana-W in Qarshi on August 23, 2022, and against Bam Khatoon FC of Iran in its next round-robin match on August 26.
"#IndianFootball is back on track again after FIFA lifted its suspension on AIFF on August 26," the AIFF said on Saturday. ”While we are happy with the turn of events, we are also extremely sorry for @GokulamKeralaFC's exit from the AFC Women's Club Championship due to the suspension. It remains #IndianFootball's greatest loss in the last 11 days, and Indian Football owes an apology to the talented girls who had trained so hard for this event," the statement added.
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Besides, Gokulam Kerala has written to the AFC to reimburse the money spent on the travel of the players and support staff and their accommodation. But they are yet to hear from the accountable body. "We have sent a mail requesting (for reimbursement) but no response yet (from the AFC)," the team owner said.
(Inputs from PTI)
