KATHMANDU, APRIL 28

A group of 10 footballers who walked off the national team camp on Tuesday accused head coach Abdullah Almutairi of creating an ugly scenario out of nothing.

"It was not a big issue and we just wanted proper accommodation during the national team training," said the footballers at a press meet today.

"Rohit Chand was expelled from the camp for raising the voice on our behalf and we wanted to talk to the coach on the issue. But he asked us to leave the camp time and again apart from threatening us with bringing in new players in our place instead of resolving the issue," they said.

Chand, Sujal Shrestha, Ananta Tamang, Bimal Gharti Magar, Anjan Bista, Bishal Shrestha, Bishal Rai, Dinesh Rajbanshi, Tej Tamang and Suman Lama had left the team hotel on Tuesday night after coach Almutairi issued the order.

The national team, which is preparing for the final round of qualifiers for the Asian Cup, was divided over the issues raised by Chand, who plays professional football in Indonesia, and the team members revolted after having a heated argument with coach Almutairi.

Most of the members in the camp were not happy with the way Almutairi misbehaved with Chand, who raised the issue of players' accommodation on behalf of the players.

"Coach wanted us to stay at ANFA hostel and we were against it as the facility lacked basic needs. After consulting with other members, Chand expressed concern over the decision of staying at the ANFA hostel. The coach became furious all of a sudden and he walked out of the stadi-um saying the training was over for the day," the players said in a release.

"He came back after some 15 minutes and wanted to know the number of players who did not want to stay at the ANFA hostel. Chand was the lone player to raise his hand at that time. The coach asked Chand to leave the camp saying he was only one leader in the team and that he was expelled from the camp for spreading negativity in the team," the players added. "We wanted to talk to the coach regarding the expulsion of Chand, who had raised the voice on our behalf, and the coach asked us to leave camp time and again. The coach said 'You started the war and I ended it' as we decided to move out of the hotel."

The players said they wanted to resolve the issue internally and put their case in front of the ANFA officials.

"But we were forced to appear before the media to clarify our stances after they accused us of wrongdoings instead of finding an amicable solution," they said. "My knee injury is not serious," said Chand. "But I would have stayed out if the coach had asked me to do so, on the basis of my injury. I raised the concerns of the team members in the absence of captain Kiran Kumar Limbu and I faced these consequences.

This behaviour from the coach is not acceptable," added Chand.

Ananta Tamang said the coach wanted total control over the players, which does not happen in world football these days. "The coach has problems with our tattoos, Facebook posts, hair styles and so on. We are not allowed to post on Facebook but the coach has made us repost his updates on many occasions.

We faced a lot of mental stress in the camp," said Tamang. "It is really difficult for us to play under this coach and there will also be a trust issue after this episode," he added.

Bishal Rai said the coach also controlled the players' outfit. "He does not allow us to wear grunge jeans and we cannot post a photo on Facebook with a certain outfit. It's ridiculous," said Rai. "We met with ANFA President Karma Tshiring Sherpa yesterday and explained the exact scenario.

But the president said he was not able to do anything against the coach because of the forthcoming ANFA elections," he said. "The president had given words to reach us back in two hours but we have not heard anything from him yet."

Bimal Gharti Magar said all the officials knew about the problem but no one took the initiative to resolve it. "Team manager Madhu Sudan Upadhyaya left for his home from Dasharath Stadium despite our requests to address the issue. He always keeps distance from us. Maybe he is scared of players' requests of providing their allowances," said Gharti Magar. Bishal Rai said they were not rebels. "We did not escape from the camp or we revolted. We are the ones who suffered the most."

Bishal Shrestha said they were not happy to leave the camp. "We did not flee the camp and we are here not to put forward our demands," he said. "We just want an independent probe on the issue.

We are ready to face actions if we are guilty. Rohit Chand was expelled from the camp for raising our concerns.

We wanted to talk to the coach regarding the expulsion of Rohit and the coach asked us to leave the camp time and again," added Shrestha.

"We had no option but to walk out."

National team skipper Kiran Kumar Limbu - who is in Maldives to play professional football - has backed the players' decision of walking out of the camp protesting coach's misbehave to the players, while four footballers - Arik Bista, Deep Karki, Darshan Gurung and Pujan Uperkoti - joined the move today.

"I am not satisfied with the behaviour towards players for raising genuine issues during the national team training," the four players said posting the same status on their Facebook walls without naming anyone.

A version of this article appears in the print on April 29, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.