Pulwama fallout: Minerva moves court, East Bengal wait & watch on Srinagar match

Minerva Punjab FC pulled out but refused to give up on points while East Bengal adopted a wait and watch approach towards its scheduled fixture after the Pulwama terror attack cast a shadow on their matches against Real Kashmir FC in Srinagar.

Defending champions Minerva did not show up for their clash against a ready RKFC in Srinagar on Monday after asserting that the home club and the All India Football Federation (AIFF) failed in providing written security assurances.

East Bengal, on the other hand, conveyed their concerns about the February 28 match to the AIFF but refrained from making an outright pullout threat. Their clash against RKFC is the last scheduled I-League match in Srinagar.

The AIFF, meanwhile, has referred the Minerva issue to its League Committee and maintained silence on East Bengal's concerns.

The entire sequence of events is a fallout of Thursday's attack in which at least 40 CRPF paramilitary troopers were killed while several others injured. It has been termed the deadliest terrorist strike in three decades in Jammu and Kashmir.

Minerva claims it couldn't have travelled to Srinagar after its foreign players were specifically told by their respective embassies to avoid the J&K capital.

The club has refused to offer a forfeiture and has moved the Delhi High Court after the AIFF refused to relocate their match.

"We have filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court, seeking relief so that we are not forced to play in Srinagar at this volatile time," Minerva Punjab FC owner Ranjit Bajaj told PTI.

"Even today there was a 12-hour encounter where four Armymen have been martyred. And they are saying 'come and play football here'. Unless the court intervenes, we are not expecting natural justice."
He added that the "whole security arrangement of the players from the airport to the team hotel and from travelling from the hotel to the ground and return, everything was taken care of."