Bala Devi, 1 of 7 Manipuri Players on Boycott, Receives Call-up to Indian Women's Football Team Camp

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Out of the seven Manipuri players boycotting the Indian women's football team over difference with the coach, only Bala Devi has been named for the preparatory camp in New Delhi.

New Delhi: Bala Devi is the only name, out of the seven Manipuri footballers boycotting the national team over difference with coach and assistant coach, to have made it to the list of players called for the preparatory camp of AFC Women's Asian Cup 2022 Qualifiers.

Seven Manipuri players, including Bala, have boycotted national football team since December after they complained to All India Football Federation (AIFF) about issues regarding head coach Maymol Rocky and assistant coach Chaoba Devi.

The players had sent a letter to All India Football Federation (AIFF) complaining about Maymol and Chaoba, revealing the reasons behind the revolt and the issues they faced in the national camp. The AIFF, however, is yet to respond to their letter.

In the midst of the tussle, Bala has received a call-up for the national camp in New Delhi from July 1 to July 17 at the back of her superlative performance in the Indian Women's League (IWL). Bala ended up as the top scorer of IWL 2019 with an astounding tally of 26 goals from just seven games.

Here is the list of players invited to the Senior WNT camp in Delhi. Great to see Anushka Samuel being rewarded for her IWL performances. From the group of Manipuri players who boycotted the WNT earlier, only #BD10 is invited. pic.twitter.com/ezDvWV3bB8— Women's Football India (@WomensFootieIND) June 17, 2019

Daya Devi has also been rewarded for her energetic performance in the IWL, where she played beside Bala and showed some skillful, pacy play at the wings.

However, goalkeeper Elangbam Panthoi Chanu and defenders Ranjibala Devi and Umapati Devi, all of whom played the IWL final with Manipur Police SC and are among those to have been a part of the revolt, have not made it to the list.

A source close to Bala told News18.com that she is still contemplating if she should accept the call-up and report for the camp.

"She is feeling bad that none of the protesting players apart from her have received the call-up, not even the ones who played the IWL final. However, she also feels that if she goes to the camp, may be she can open a channel to finally start conversation about the whole protest. She is at crossroads," the source said.

All the 30 players who have been named have been asked to report to the venue on July 1.