the goan I network
MARGAO
Referee Mario Pereira was forced to abandon a match when Churchill Brothers were reduced to just six players against Sesa Football Academy in the All India Football Federation’s Under-18 Youth League at Rosary ground, Navelim on Friday. Sesa were leading 7-0 at the time of the abandonment after leading 3-0 at the break.
Churchill Brothers took the filed with only 10 players and were struggling to catch up with the rivals and their goalkeeper Adam Khan had a tough time in keeping the rampaging forwards of Sesa in check. Sesa opened the flood gates when Laishram Meitei slotted past Adam Khan with a snap shot in the 23rd minute. Sesa toyed with the rivals’ weak defence and pushed them on the back foot.
Sesa doubled the lead when Shridhar Naidu bulged the net in the 36th minute. At the stroke of the break, Sesa increased their tally when Laishram Meeti punted the ball to the far corner of the net to scored his brace.
Post resumption, Sesa continued to enjoy total domination and in the 53rd minute, attacking midfielder Mohammad Khan inflated the tally when he beat the rival goalkeeper with a neat finish. Two minutes later, striker Russel Vaz added his name to the scorers list.
Shajam P, who was in the thick of action, made it 5-0 when he beat the rival goalkeeper with a rasping shot in the 62nd minute. Shridhar Naidu added another in the 68th minute. In the 70th minute, four Churchill players got injured and they were reduced to six players. The referee had no option but to abandon
the match.
The official FIFA laws state: “Although a match may not start if either team consists of fewer than seven players, the minimum number of players in a team required for a match to continue is left to the discretion of member associations. However, it is the opinion of the International FA Board that a match should not continue if there are fewer than seven players in
either team.”
