By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Royal Wahingdoh FC registered a 4-1 win against ONGC amid controversy in a final round match of the 2nd Division I-League played in Siliguri on Friday.
RWFC had mistakenly fielded four foreign players against the permitted three and a complaint against the club has been lodged with the AIFF. As a result of this, RWFC might have to forfeit the points gained from the match. It may be mentioned that Wahingdoh had initially fielded three foreigners (Beekay Bawar, Chencho and Kareem Nurrain). As delaying tactics, RWFC brought in Perry S Kolie, the fourth foreigner in the team replacing its skipper Seityacen in the last minute of the match.
“We mistakenly overlooked the fact that as per the rules, teams are not allowed to field four foreign players at the same time in a match,” RWFC coach Carlton Chapman said.
A complaint has been lodged with the match referee against RWFC by various teams featuring in the tourney and a report has already been submitted to the AIFF to take the final call. Even though the team has committed a mistake, Chapman said that the referee was also at fault since, “he should have pointed out that four foreign players are not allowed to be fielded.”
“We are just praying that the AIFF would understand the mistake committed by the team,” he said.
Earlier, Chencho scored twice and Jackiechand Singh and Kareem ‘O” Nurrain netted a goal each to lead the Royals to a 4-1 victory. Despite the brilliant show, a dejected Wahingdoh side is looking to shelve aside the disappointment and focus on the next game against United Sikkim on the 19th.
RWFC are second in the points tally with seven ponts from three matches. United Sikkim top the charts with nine points from three encounters.
