Religion Of J&K Football Team Players Sparks Row, Probe Ordered

The Jammu and Kashmir team selection for Santosh Trophy has triggered a controversy with the religion of players in the squad coming under scrutiny. The row comes even as the J&K team continued its dominant performance in the championship after beating Himachal Pradesh by 3-0 in Punjab. 

A probe has been ordered to investigate the selection process of players, and the concerned panel has been asked to submit a report within a week. 

The issue has also exposed a lack of coherence within the state government. Days after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah defended the selection process and warned against dragging sports into politics, the state's sports minister has ordered a probe into the team selection. 

While the J&K squad has already won two matches in the 79th Santosh Trophy National Championship, the team finds itself at crossroads. Satish Shama, J&K Sports minister, said tough action will be taken against "those who have brought politics into sports". "Some people feel it's their personal property. But sports is meant for sportspersons only," said Sharma. 

He said that the direction of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is that merit should not be ignored. The minister, however, conceded that Jammu doesn't have that sort of football culture compared to the Kashmir Valley, alluding why selected players have predominantly come from there. 

"What would you say if 10 out of 11 players in hockey come from Sikh community. Football in Kashmir is doing very well. We need to encourage football in Jammu as well, and at the same time ensure that sports is not dragged into politics," said Sharma. 

Earlier, Abdullah strongly defended the selection process and insisted that players have been selected based on merit. "If any player is selected because of some favour, there is no justification for having such players in the team. But all these boys have been selected based on their talent," said Abdullah. 

"I don't understand why politicians are bringing politics into everything.  When students get entry into a medical college, you bring politics into it and now when boys who work very hard and make it to the football team, that is also being dragged into politics," he said. 

Abdullah was referring to recent controversy over admission of Muslim students in Mata Vaishno Devi medical college, which had triggered a major controversy. Jammu is still witnessing protests against the admission of 42 Muslim students. The BJP and right wing groups are a demanding rollback of admissions.