Rajasthan United to play their maiden I-League game with 9 players

The club earned their qualification to the league by winning the I-League Qualifiers in October.

In what can be called a baffling situation, I-League debutants Rajasthan United are set to play their 2021-22 season opener on Sunday, December 26, with just nine players. Khel Now has learned that the club are unable to field a full playing XI, due to player registration restrictions.

The Rajasthani outfit won the I-League Qualifiers in October 2021. Afterwards, they made several new signings and overhauled their squad to match the standards of the league. However, none of those new signings have been registered yet.

The players that RUFC have signed can be registered in the Centralised Registration System (CRS) only during January, when the transfer window opens for the winter period. Prior to that, they have to play Sunday’s clash against RoundGlass Punjab. The absence of enough registered players means that the club can field only nine names in the game. Out of those nine players, seven are debutants – they have never featured in the I-League previously.

“RUFC had sent a mail to AIFF in November, requesting them to schedule their I-league 2021-22 matches from January onwards, so that their new signings can be registered. But, the federation scheduled one of their games this month. Later, the club handed in a formal request to be granted permission to register amateur players. The federation allowed it on December 11, following a meeting and the decision was also made public via an official statement,” sources close to the club informed Khel Now.

"Teams in the ISL and the I-League can register amateur players with an understanding that they need to change them into professional players when the transfer window re-opens on January 1, 2022,” the AIFF statement dated December 11, reads. However, what has not been mentioned in the statement, is the fact that even amateurs can play only if they are registered by their respective clubs on or before August 31.

“AIFF has allowed all I-League and ISL clubs to register amateur players as confirmed by an official statement on December 11, on the requirement that they be converted to professionals in January. Keeping in mind FIFA mandates, clubs can field amateur players registered on or before August 31, 2021 - the final day of the summer transfer window,” a senior official at AIFF informed Khel Now.

In the current RUFC squad, only nine names fulfill all the registration criteria to feature in the I-League. As it stands, the outfit will hence have to either play with them on Sunday or forfeit the game. Doing the latter will automatically give their opponents RoundGlass Punjab three points and their first win of the season.

“We are aware of Rajasthan United’s situation. It looks like they have two options on Sunday – either choose not to play and the league will give 3 points to RoundGlass Punjab, or come with their nine players to play a match. The match will go ahead as planned, as long as there are at least seven players per team on the pitch, per FIFA regulations,” the AIFF official added.

Khel Now has also learned that RoundGlass Punjab are also not keen on postponing the game.

Rajasthan United are hence set to play the match – but it remains to be seen as to how the game will go ahead without enough players available. The likes of Marcelinho, Komron Tursunov, Fabiano Alves, Subha Ghosh, Aman Chetri, Abhishek Ambekar, Laishram Premjit Singh, Pintu Mahata and more will not be a part of their squad against RoundGlass Punjab, as they are yet to be registered.

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