JKFA biased in selection: Jammu players

Ranjit Thakur
Jammu, September 18

Football players of the Jammu province have blamed the J&K Football Association (JKFA) for making selections without following proper procedure for the forthcoming Santosh Trophy starting from September 22.

The J&K football team has recently been selected for the north zone group of the upcoming Santosh Trophy, but players from Jammu alleged that the association had not followed proper procedure and ignored the talented youth of Jammu.

Arun, who runs four clubs in Jammu, said, “The State Football Association had recently asked not to send teams for the sub-junior national and women’s senior national tournaments and even for the Santosh Trophy, but we raised the issue with the Adviser to Governor and after facing the heat, they sent team players for the Santosh Trophy from Kashmir without following proper procedure and trials.”

“We want that selections should be done after proper trials and procedure. We want that talented youth of Jammu and Ladakh be given chance to play as they have been practicing for several years,” he added.

Rejecting all allegations, Sheikh Mehmood, president, District Football Association (DFA), Jammu, said, “We select only those players who are registered with the Football Federation of Indian. The recent selections have been made by following proper procedure as there are around seven players from the Jammu province.”

“We are not selecting school or college teams, but Jammu and Kashmir team and it is selected on the bases of performance,” he added.

"I have represented J&K in several national-level tournaments outside the state, but mostly we faced discrimination as players from the Valley get more chances to play than players from the Jammu region. — Ankit Mehta, a Jammu football player