Why Rajasthan United Football Club only fielded 9 players in their last match of I-League?

Rajasthan United Football Club played debut I-league match against RoundGlass Football Club on Saturday, 2021-12-26 with just nine players on field. They gave their best shot but lost 0-2 and the debutants believe that they deserve three points after lodging protest against Punjab Football Club for playing with a suspended player.

The protest letter stated, that Rajasthan United have said that Robin Singh was a ineligible player and could not have been part of the squad after picking red card in the 80th minute of the last official match he played in 2019-20.

RUFC got qualified for I-league on the basis of winning the qualifiers which was played in October this year. As they were unaware about the extending season, so they can`t sign new players till the transfer window will open, which is going to open in January 2022.

CLUB STATEMENT: We at RUFC are deeply disappointed for the situation regarding player registration. We apologise to our players, sponsors and fans unreservedly.😞 pic.twitter.com/ewGsFRql4g

— Rajasthan United FC (@RajasthanUnited) December 26, 2021

RUFC was well aware about the situation, as they know that they only have two options on Sunday- either they can choose not to play and the league will give 3 points to PFC, or come with 9 players to play. On this issue AIFF said that according to the FIFA regulations, the match will go ahead as planned, as long as they have at least seven players per team on pitch.

AIFF was equally responsible for the issue, as there was no communication between the AIFF and the I-league football clubs, which makes RUFC to play with just 9 players. PFC should have forfeited the match to later date in the wake of Sportsmanship Spirit as the team with nine players can`t compete with a full strength squad.

ISL gradually became the first-tier league due to involvement of Private stakeholders and the matches are been telecasted on Star Sports and Disney+hotstar generated huge eyeballs in comparison to I-league as I-league was never telecasted on bigger platform. I-league ongoing season is being streamed at Jio Tv but still no big channels is showing the matches of I-league who is known for giving platform to clubs like Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Aizwal FC.