Kerala Blasters pulling the plug on their women’s team raises eyebrows
The Hindu
football
KOCHI
It is the country’s most popular football club, the club with the biggest fan base in the Indian Super League and the Kerala Blasters’ move to temporarily stop its women’s team’s activities has come as a surprise to many.
Why should the women suffer for the problems created by the men’s team (the national body AIFF fined the Blasters ₹4 crore for their ISL walkout in March), is the big question doing the rounds.
But former international Bentla D’coth was surprised.
“It is their decision but it is not very expensive to run a women’s team,” said Bentla , who was a big star when Kerala was among the strong sides in women’s football many years ago, who later became a referees instructor and is now a coach too.
“It could come to about ₹50 lakh to run one season. And for a club like Don Bosco (a Kochi-based club which played the Kerala Women’s League), the players’ salary is just about ₹10 lakh for the entire team of about 25 players. Add to that accommodation and other expenses and it could come ₹25 lakh.”
Short-term outlook