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They call it the top division league of India. But the top of the table Real Kashmir FC vs Chennai City FC match was not telecast on TV and online platforms due to ‘bad weather’, as claimed by the broadcasters.
This I-League fixture was one of the most important matches of the tournament given the neck-to-neck fight among the top teams. Chennai City, who were standing on top with 30 points, had a chance to go further in the league with a win.
However, Gnohere Krizo’s goal proved to be the difference between the two sides as Real Kashmir registered a comfortable win on returning to their home ground after more than one month. Real Kashmir now have 28 points, equal with Churchill Brothers.
But more than Real Kashmir's victory, the match will now be remembered for the fans' ire towards the broadcasters for not telecasting the game. A four-part explanatory tweet from the I-League official account was enough to dent their excitements.
“Live telecast of the Hero I-League fixture between @realkashmirfc and @ChennaiCityFC can't be telecast due to adverse climatic conditions. We sincerely regret the situation to all of our fans and the fans of Real Kashmir FC and Chennai City FC,” the I-League said in their statement.
“It's been snowing heavily in the northern part of India. The OB Van of Star Sports is stuck in Shimla for last one week because of this. As an immediate alternative, AIFF and Real Kashmir had approached DD Kashir to facilitate the telecast for the match.
“But even their OB Van, which was at Jammu for the Republic Day parade, couldn't move due to the closure of the Jammu- Srinagar highway due to heavy snowfall.
“It was also tried to get LIVE Streaming on for the match on @hotstartweets with the help of a local crew but the technical glitches deterred the purpose too.Hence, we sincerely regret our inability to LIVE telecast the match between Real Kashmir FC and Chennai City FC,” the statement added.
Immediately after their series of tweets, fans started venting their anger on social media platforms. While some said the move was pre-planned by the broadcasters, others said Star are putting their all to kill the league.
The pertinent question that is being raised now is how the Chennai City players managed to travel across India and reach Srinagar from Coimbatore a couple of days before the match without any hassle? How did the OB Van of Star Sports get stuck in Shimla, some 630 kilometres from Srinagar?
Even though Real Kashmir tweeted a picture of their players training in snow a few days ago, weather forecast suggests that there was no snowfall since Saturday. Pictures that emerged right after the announcement show the sky was clear and there was not a hint of snowfall.
Even before the kick-off, I-League posted videos of both the teams practising on the ground, which clearly shows the weather was fine.
This is not the first time that Star Sports has shown its step-motherly attitude towards I-League. Earlier, the match between Churchill Brothers and Minerva Punjab was not telecast.
Let us look at the reactions on Twitter:
Also See: I-League Schedule I Points Table
