I-League: Manipur govt. set to hand over INR 50 lacs to NEROCA, TRAU

In what comes as a massive financial boost, at a time when global economy has taken a hit due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Manipur state govt. is set to provide financial assistance to the state’s three top football clubs — NEROCA FC, TRAU and KRYPSHA.

The govt. has approved the release of INR 50 lacs each to the two I-League clubs of the state, NEROCA and TRAY, and a yet to disclose sum to KRYPSHA, runners up of the last edition of the Indian Women's League (IWL).

NEROCA and TRAU have started their preparations for the upcoming I-League season after the 2019-20 season was cut short due the coronavirus outbreak. Although there is still uncertainty regarding a lot of things and no date has been fixed for the start of the season, it is expected that football will restart sometime in November.

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Both clubs have taken this as an opportunity to build and prepare for a campaign that might be their best shot yet at I-League glory. With Mohun Bagan joining the Indian Super League (ISL) and East Bengal possibly following suit, the giants are gone from the I-League. NEROCA are definitely fancying their chances and this financial boost will give them some much needed support.

"We have been told that we will receive INR 50 lakhs from the government. We are yet to receive the money, but hopefully, it will be credited soon," Manimohan Moirangthem, secretary of NEROCA, told Goal.

With the All Manipur Football Association (AMFA) mandating that players playing in I-League cannot play in the state league, NEROCA are planning to field two separate teams for the two tournaments. The senior players will feature in the I-League, while it is likely that the academy players will make up the team that would play in the state league.

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