Itching to see his ailing mother, RKFC coach's anxious wait to leave for Scotland continues

Itching to get back to his ailing mother in Scotland, Real Kashmir FC coach David Robertson and his UK-based players' stay in Srinagar has got extended due to unavailability of chartered flights from the valley.

With his mother undergoing chemotherapy for cancer in Aberdeen, the coach is anxious and so is his co-owner, Sandeep Chattoo, who has been in constant touch with officials from the government, trying to work out a solution.

Robertson, his wife Kim, and son Mason, who plays for the club, are stuck in Chattoo's hotel in Srinagar since the enforcement of the nationwide lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and the suspension of international flights.

Giving them company are the clubs' other foreign players -- skipper Loveday Enyinnaya, Kallum Higginbotham, Aaron Katebe, Bazie Armand, Gnohere Krizo and two members of Robertson's support staff.

"We have been trying and hoping for them to return home but the chartered flights, which the UK government is arranging, are evacuating those UK nationals stranded in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai now," Chattoo told PTI.

"There are no flights from Srinagar and the problem is how do I get them to Delhi. Even by road, they will have to go via Punjab and Haryana and all state borders are sealed at the moment."
"We will keep trying but for now we can only hope that something works out as soon as possible."
"How could I have gone back home. They are also like my family and so I am with them."
"He has been so nice even when he knows that the most important thing for him now is to be with his mother. But he understands that we are trying our best."