By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu – Ten footballers expelled from the closed camp training have submitted a written note to the All Nepal Football Association regarding the dispute with chief coach Abdullah Al Mutairi.
Footballer Rohit Chand on behalf of the players handed over the memorandum to ANFA General Secretary Indraman Tuladhar on Monday.
Meanwhile, ANFA Players Association has demanded a probe into the dispute between players and the chief coach. The players’ association president Bikram Lama also handed over a letter to ANFA General Secretary Tuladhar demanding investigation.
“We are deeply saddened by the news that ten of us allegedly fled from the training camp of national football team preparing for the AFC Asian Cup. We learnt this from the media. Playing for the national team is our childhood dream. We have been fulfilling our responsibilities for the national team despite all the ups and downs,” reads the letter signed by the ten players who were told to leave the camp by the chief coach following a dispute last week.
In the letter, the players argued that they were unhappy with the behavior of chief coach Abdullah Al Mutairi after Rohit Chand raised a genuine concern of the players. “As we tried to discuss about the issue, we were told to leave the camp time and again. Therefore we left the camp. We informed the concerned officials about the issue,” reads the letter, adding, “We were told to leave the camp when we raised the issue of our basic demands for livelihood. On top of that, we are deeply saddened by inappropriate remarks made by ANFA officials.”
Meanwhile, the letter submitted by the players’ association states that they received information that the players were told to leave the camp by chief coach himself. “However, the mass media reported otherwise. We are saddened by the impact of such news on the players.”
The ten footballers who were forced to leave the camp made this issue public on Thursday by organizing a press conference. On Sunday, Al Mutairi wrote a letter to ANFA General Secretary stating that the players had left the camp without any notice and also made it clear that he will not have them back in the national team.
