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In a major boost to women's football in India, Gokulam Kerala FC will play in the AFC Women's Club Championship 2023, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) confirmed on Wednesday, 12 July.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) wrote to the AFC after Gokulam Kerala requested the former to recommend their inclusion in the invitational tournament where Asia's top women's clubs compete for continental honours.
The tournament is slated to take place between November 6 to 12, 2023, with the exact dates yet to be confirmed. This news will give a major uplift to manager Anthony Andrews and his wards.
Gokulam Kerala won their third consecutive Indian Women's League (IWL) title earlier this year, beating Kickstart FC 5-0 in the final. They were unbeaten across 10 games, netting a phenomenal 64 goals. While India international Indumathi Kathiresan won the Most Valuable Player award, their Nepali striker Sabitra Bhandari was the leading goalscorer.
Also read: Former Hyderabad FC manager complains of financial issues at the club.
Gokulam Kerala could not compete in the 2022 edition due to the AIFF ban
With this development, Gokulam Kerala will be able to do what they could not in the previous edition of the tournament, owing to the ban enforced upon AIFF by FIFA last year.
“The Bureau of the FIFA Council has unanimously decided to suspend the All India Football Federation (AIFF) with immediate effect due to undue influence from third parties, which constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA Statutes,” read the official statement by the game's custodian at the time.
The team were in for a rude shock as they landed in Uzbekistan but were refused participation by AFC and the organisers. They were also left stranded in the central Asian country. Fortunately, they will be able to compete in the tournament this time around and showcase their wares across the continent.
Earlier, they had not been included in the tournament after AFC decided to shift the zones for the competition. However, they wrote to AIFF citing their unparalleled success in women's football in India and also highlighted the injustice meted out to them last season.
Luckily, AFC considered the recommendation made by AIFF and allowed Gokulam Kerala the chance to do what they could not last year.
