The girls from a remote village of Kendrapara district have lost a lifetime opportunity to represent the country, thanks to alleged negligence by the country's apex womens' football body.
Two impoverished teenage girls from a remote village of Kendrapara district have lost a lifetime opportunity to represent the country in football, thanks to alleged negligence by the country's apex womens' football body.
The poor girls are destined to miss the bus as neither the state nor the national body could arrange passport for them for the forthcoming Asian Sub-junior Championship at Colombo.
Shinulata Sahu and Rachita Mallick were picked up during the trial training camp to represent the national under-14 womens' football team for the championship to be kicked off on March 11.
But the nimble-footed forwards would miss the flight to Colombo because they are not having the passport for the foreign trip.
Daughters of daily wagers, the budding footballers are sixth class students in the local government school and owe their roots to the nondescript Kantipur village of Aul block, that lays claim to fame for producing many outstanding women footballers.
"It is a shocking tale of missed opportunity. The All India Football Federation-Women (AIFFW) made delay in selection of the team. That's why the two girls lost the precious time to get the passport," said Debendra Sharma, vice president of the Federation of Orissa Womens' Football.
Both of them, who are at the trial training camp at Thiruvananthapuram, could not be issued passport as their
physical presence is required at the regional passport office
at Bhubaneswar.
"We have shot off petitions to the federation while taking strong exception to its dilly-dallying attitude," Sharma said adding that the poor girls are crestfallen as they are going to lose a rare honour to represent the country.
The backward villages in this part of the state have churned out a number of women footballers in the past years.
At least 15 of them have played for the country in various age groups while the state women's football team mostly includes players from this region.
The state under-19 and under-16 women's teams are literally packed with these girls, according to Sharma, who is also the chief patron of women's football here.
Five international players, Sashmita Mallick, Suprava Samal, Sangita Patra, Alochana Senapati and Bijoylaxmi Sahu are all from Aul-Rajkanika region of this district.
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