“It is with a heavy heart that we must announce the temporary pause of our women’s team. This decision has been necessitated by the recent financial sanctions imposed on our club by the football federation,” Kerala Blasters said on Tuesday in a statement.

Why Kerala Blasters was fined?

The AIFF has imposed a fine of ₹4 crore on Kerala Blasters after their men’s team walked out of the ISL match against Bengaluru FC on 3 March. The walkout was in protest against a contentious goal by Sunil Chhetri through a free kick.

The disagreements appeared on the ground as Sunil Chhetri took the kick without the referee blowing the whistle. Kerala Blasters claimed that the goal should not be counted as they were not ready for the free-kick and when the referees disagreed, the team decided to stage a walkout.

In his defense, Sunil Chhetri said that he already informed the referees that did not want either the wall (10 yards from the ball) or the whistle.

The football federation also imposed a ₹5 lakh fine on the coach of Kerala Blasters Ivan Vukomanovic and banned him for 10 games.

The captain Ashalata Devi and goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan of the Indian women’s team questioned the decision of the club and asked why the women’s team is being punished for a fine imposed on the men’s team.

“So the men’s team gets a fine for what they did and the money comes from the women’s team budget by shutting it down? Great, that’s how women’s football will develop in India. Horrible!” Chauhan tweeted to which Ashalata replied, “Horrible”.

Updated: 06 Jun 2023, 05:56 PM IST