PANAJI: Fresh violence in Manipur has forced the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to delay a much-awaited return of national-level club football to the north-eastern state.
Since May last year, Manipur has been rocked by violence with two rival ethnic groups at loggerheads. The violence prompted the state's clubs in the I-League, TRAU and Neroca FC, to play their home games away in Bengal due to safety concerns of visiting teams.
With the I-League second phase set to resume on Thursday, the AIFF allowed these clubs to play their home games at the Khuman Lampak Stadium in Imphal. But just when all preparations appeared to be on track for the Imphal derby between TRAU and Neroca on Feb 3, at least two people were killed and five others were injured in fresh incidents of violence.
The I-League is the country's second-tier club competition after the Indian Super League (ISL).
"We cannot put anyone at risk with incidents of violence in Manipur," a senior AIFF official told TOI. "There was an incident very close to the stadium. We had to cancel the match because we did not get safety assurances."
The AIFF was also alarmed after the final of the Manipur Premier League was abandoned due to crowd violence at the artificial turf ground, Lamlong, on Wednesday.
According to sources, the clash between Southern Sporting Union and ASUFII FA had to be stopped late in the first session as crowd took to the field.
All Manipur Football Association (AMFA) president M Ratan Kumar Singh spoke with AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey and briefed him about the security situation.
Neroca and TRAU are both at the bottom of the I-League table and will need to script a major turnaround to escape relegation.
