Three Puerto Rican strikers opted not to travel to India to play the friendly scheduled for Saturday.
Puerto Rican Football Federation (PRFF) and their national team players are involved in a stand-off about per diems. Consequently, three players, namely Hector Ramos, Jorge Rivera and Joseph Marrero, have opted out of the match.
Interestingly, these three players ply their trade for Puerto Rico FC, a club that plays in the NASL which is the United States’ Second Division, a league which doesn’t observe international dates.
Ramos and Marrero are their country’s all time top two goal scorers. The Puerto Rican squad would be severely depleted without them.
The Puerto Rican Football Federation (PRFF) President Eric Labrador said, “Every federation is in its regulations to penalize a player if he does not play. But right now, our focus is something else. As soon as we are done with our game against India, we shall sit down and assess the situation.”
Meanwhile, assistant coach Jose Martinez also resigned just before the trip to India.
ISL: Chennaiyin FC signs Dudu Omagbemi
Nigerian footballer Dudu Omagbemi will play in the ISL for the third consecutive season, this time for reigning champions Chennaiyin FC. The 31-year-old is the first foreign player to have played all three seasons of the ISL along with appearances in the I-League. Dudu started off with Pune FC for whom he scored 3 goals in 12 matches.
The following ISL season, Dudu joined forces with Zico at FC Goa and notched up a hat-trick in a match against Mumbai City FC. However, his time on the field was limited and managed to score only one more goal is six more appearances.
Chennaiyin FC have already begun preparation for the league and are in Perugia, Italy for a camp. They start their 2016 campaign away from home against Atletico de Kolkata on the 2nd of October.
IFL approves Mohun Bagan’s rematch versus Tollygunge Agragami
The Indian Foootball Assocation (IFA), after having a director’s meeting, announced the approval of a replay between Mohun Bagan and Tollygunge Agragami. The sub-committee announced on Wednesday evening that the match would be held on or after 14th September.
On Monday, referee Dipu Roy and his assistants disallowed three potential goals in favour of Mohun Bagan, as a result of which supporters thronged to the field. The match was subsequently abandoned.
Mohun Bagan then sent a mail to the IFA demanding the match be replayed, complaining about the referees’ actions, which the IFA has approved.
