Indian women footballers made to play in appalling conditions, flooded ground

Karnataka skipper Tanvie Hans took to Twitter, sharing images of the ‘heart-breaking’ conditions of the playing grounds. “We lost against Bihar yesterday, and I walked off in tears, not because of the loss, but because it was hardly a game of football. The ground was flooded, and the ball was hardly moving. Heart broken by the conditions we are being asked to play in. I would be, even if we won,” she wrote.

We lost against Bihar yesterday, and I walked off in tears, not because of the loss, but because it was hardly a game of #football. The ground was flooded, and the ball was hardly moving. Heart broken by the conditions we are being asked to play in. I would be, even if we won. pic.twitter.com/pSBmVdMj5d

— Tanvie Hans (@TanvieHans) September 11, 2019

A crowd-sourced account on Women’s football India followed it up with a video of the CHF stadium pitch, bringing to light the sad reality of the game in the country. “Dear India, THESE are also our teams and THESE are also our players. These aren’t conditions any professional footballer should have to play in,” the account tweeted.

To give you a sense of the conditions, this is a video we came across, of the CHF stadium pitch. We’re told Pasighat stadium is significantly better. We only have one question, how does a team train for this? pic.twitter.com/4AMEStxk8A

— Women’s Football India (@WomensFootieIND) September 11, 2019

Indian national footballers Sandesh Jhingan and Aditi Chauhan were among others to express their disappointment on the nature of facilities being provided to women footballers. Here are some of the reactions:

Really dissappointed to see this during one of the women’s league game. Women’s @IndianFootball has done so well in the past and they deserve much more than this. Also for India to grow as a footballing Giant we need improvement in all sectors irrespective of the gender and age pic.twitter.com/SvcrEDjWlj

— Sandesh Jhingan (@SandeshJhingan) September 13, 2019

So disappointed to see the conditions the women footballers are expected to play the SENIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP in
All this when we were talking about progress of @IndianFootball women’s senior team#reality #indianfootball #hergametoo https://t.co/rpqF3aSopn

— Aditi Chauhan GK ???? (@aditi03chauhan) September 11, 2019

Rightly said bhai, taking care of all the sectors equally, of our footballing society is our responsibility. #WeHaveToDoMore https://t.co/sXXkjKVUAi

— Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (@GurpreetGK) September 13, 2019

Dear India, THESE are also our teams and THESE are also our players. These aren’t conditions any professional footballer should have to play in. https://t.co/f6aCr15TGk

— Women’s Football India (@WomensFootieIND) September 11, 2019

THREAD

Advertisement

While we all rejoice the result of the men’s national team against Qatar, I can’t help but feel for this player

Here is one of the most accomplished #WomenInFootball who has waited 10 years for this moment, only to have to go through this#ThePainIsReal @_shireenahmed_ https://t.co/Akoix0NGNb

— Raghav (@raghavthefeline) September 11, 2019

C’mon y’all, let’s be better than this. Criminally embarrassing – our athletes deserve better. #hergametoo #shepower https://t.co/pgzvMHgRXk

— Crish Sequeira (@_crish) September 13, 2019

No complaints were raised to the APFA regarding the ground conditions.