KOCHI: A team that was formed with much fanfare ten months faced a huge question mark over its future as the Kerala Blasters announced a ‘temporary pause’ to its women’s football team activities on Tuesday. The Blasters women’s team seem to be bearing the brunt of the financial constraints faced by the club owing to the hefty fine (Rs 4 crore) imposed on them by AIFF for their men’s team’s decision to walk off the pitch during the game against Bengaluru FC in an ISL playoff game last season.
“It is with a heavy heart that we must announce the temporary pause of our women’s team. This decision has been necessitated by the recent financial sanctions imposed on our club by the football federation. While we respect the authority and decisions of the federation, we cannot deny our disappointment at the impact it is likely to have across various functions of our club," Blasters’ said in a statement released on Tuesday.
Indications are that the Blasters will be sending the women players contracted with the club out on loan since most of them have a three-year contract. “We are not shutting down the project completely. We won't be cancelling the contract with the players,” said sources close to the Blasters’ women’s team management.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that the club had plans to cut down the spending on its women’s team at the beginning of the year itself after a less than impressive performance in the inaugural year. Blasters had failed to qualify for the Indian Women’s League while they finished third in Kerala Women’s League (KWL) below Gokulam Kerala and Lords FA in the league standings.
“The team management had removed the CEO and the support staff in February itself. They were assigned various other duties related to the men’s team. From then, we had feared something bad might happen to the team. And today out worst fears have come true,” said a member of the women’s squad, who didn’t want to be named.
The club management’s decision to stop the activities of its women's team to compensate for the losses incurred by the men’s team has drawn huge criticism from various quarters. “So the men’s team gets a fine for what they did and the money comes from the women’s team budget by shutting it down? Great, that’s how women’s football will develop in India. Horrible," tweeted Indian women's team goalkeeper Aditi Chouhan.
Swedish goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl too reacted to the Blasters' decision. "When will women's football be fully respected?," she tweeted.
Meanwhile, national women’s team coach Priya PV found reason in Blasters’ decision. “Women's football is struggling in India. Sponsors are not showing any interest in women's football and the clubs are finding it hard to run the club. We cannot blame Blasters as a whole since it will be difficult to run the women's squad with additional sanctions,” said the former coach of Gokulam women’s team.
