Shillong, Oct 17: To us nothing was amiss. Jongksha SC trounced Lumshyiap SC 7-3 on 3rd October and were in prime position to claim one of the two semifinal spots from Group B of the Shillong Sports Association’s Second Division 2024.
But there was a problem. Lumshyiap protested that two of the Jongksha players were ineligible as they had come back to the club after playing on loan in Assam and had not completed the inter-state transfer before rejoining Jongksha.
Lumshyiap submitted proof of this and the SSA nullified the result of that match and awarded Lumshyiap 3 points. (This, however, wasn’t intimated to the press – we were told about the 7-3 result and published that in good faith. It was only in the last few days that we noticed a large number of comments on one of TSR’s Facebook posts that alerted us to what was going on.)
Overturning the defeat wasn’t a big matter for Lumshyiap – they were towards the bottom of Group B but not dead last, so they weren’t in danger of relegation, but neither were they going to progress to the knockouts.
The issue of Jongksha’s players was bigger for Mylliem Lum SC, who finished third in the group. They faced Jongksha on 21st September and lost 3-0. Both of the ineligible players, who we’ve been told are Donboklang Lyngdoh and Basuklang Bina, played for Jongksha in this match and the latter even scored a goal.
No protest was filed by Mylliem Lum (probably because they didn’t know at that point that the players were ineligible) and the SSA only has a limited window where it will accept complaints – the protest has to be registered within 24 hours of the end of the match in question.
It has been argued by supporters of Mylliem Lum that, as the two players were ineligible to be fielded, all the Jongksha matches featuring the pair should be nullified. Mylliem Lum would thus finish the group stage in second and qualify for the semifinals.
But that isn’t how the SSA sees it – Lumshyiap made the protest, so the disqualification only applies to that match and that is according to the association’s rules. The players concerned, though, may yet face further disciplinary measures.
Today representatives of Mylliem Lum and other aggrieved clubs were all set to hold a press conference regarding this issue but cancelled it at the last minute.
It’s worth noting that the SSA has not mandated the use of the All India Football Federation’s Centralised Registration System for any of its tournaments except the Shillong Premier League, where it has already caught out one underprepared team. If Second Division sides had been made to use CRS, then perhaps this whole mess could’ve been avoided.
(TSR file photo of Jongksha SC)
