I-League 2021-22: Rajasthan United FC to play opening clash with only nine players

I-League debutants Rajasthan United FC found themselves quite in a perplexing position on the opening days of I-League 2021-22. Rajasthan can only field nine players for their opener against RoundGlass Punjab FC owing to player registration issues.

After winning the I-League Qualifiers back in October, the outfit added quite a several talented individuals to their roster. These include the likes of Marcelinho, Komron Tursunov, Fabiano Alves, Subha Ghosh, Aman Chetri, Laishram Premjit Singh, Pintu Mahata, and more. However, these players will not be a part of the encounter against RGPFC. They could not be registered since the transfer window was closed before the Qualifiers themselves. The club will have to wait till 1st January, to register the aforementioned players.

AIFF had previously released a statement on December 14 stating that teams with registration issues can field a team of amateur players. However, a second statement from the organization later stated that only players registered before August 31 could be played. At the same time, the request made by RUFC to the organization to schedule their matches after January has been declined as well. The conundrum left the club with choices of fielding only nine players or forfeiting. Adding to that seven out of the nine players are debutants with only one foreigner.

The club released an official statement confirming the same and announcing that the team will play the game with nine players itself.

"We respect the decision of both the AIFF as well as our opponents to not postpone the fixture and acknowledge the errant decision making and communication that has led to this situation. We apologize deeply to our players, coaches, sponsors, and our fans who have been waiting for this moment for a long while."

"A simple option would obviously be to forfeit our opening fixture and play on from Game 2 but it is something our philosophy will not allow. We will take to the field with the nine players at our disposal and put forth as best as we can, offering our opponents the respect they deserve in this stage." the statement read.