The Mizoram Football Association (MFA) has stood up for one of its most decorated footballers, Jeje Lalpekhlua, in seeking clarification on why the striker was not conferred the Arjuna Award despite getting nominated on three occasions in the last four years.
In a letter addressed to Kiren Rijiju, the Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, the MFA took up the issue after Jeje conveyed his “shock and dismay” on being ignored for the third time.
Realising that the player felt humiliated at being left out once again, the MFA approached the Sports Minister for “inquiry regarding disregard of Jeje Lalpekhlua for the Arjuna Award”.
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The letter, signed by the MFA secretary Lalnghinglova Hmar, sought clarity on the detailed criteria for finalizing the Arjuna awardees. “While the MFA acknowledges and applauds the Indian footballer awardees; it insists upon the disclosure of the detailed criteria for the Arjuna Award, as well as the explanation to the question 'Why has Jeje Lalpekhlua been overlooked after three separate nominations?’”
“Jeje was nominated for the award by the All India Football Federation in the years - 2017, 2019 and 2020 but on each occasion, the Arjuna Awards committee went for the “lesser capped” players,” the letter argues.
“Jeje has earned 56 caps for India, scoring 23 goals, second only to Sunil Chhetri in the national scoring charts among active players. He is currently ranked sixth on the all-time scorers list. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (2019) and Sandesh Jhingan (2020), who both have earned worthy acclamation through their storied careers, have earned 38 and 36 caps respectively,” was how the letter sought clarity on the selection criteria. If selected, Jeje would have been the first footballer from Mizoram to be receiving the award.
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On being approached by Sportstar , Jeje conveyed his “shock” at being ignored for the third successive occasion.
“I am very happy for my national team colleagues Gurpreet and Sandesh for receiving the Arjuna Award but am shocked at the same time for being disregarded despite having better credentials on each occasion,” Jeje said.
“I seriously expected the Award to come to me this year as I felt I was the strongest candidate. If you look at my records, there is no one near me among the nominated candidates. I am sad for the rejection but I will take that as a motivation to do even better when I return to the field now,” Jeje who was named the AIFF player of the year in 2016, said.
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The doughty striker is eager to return the field after missing the 2019-2020 season because of knee surgery.
“I have started practising and my fitness is also looking good. I am looking ahead to the new season and will be announcing my new ISL address pretty soon,” Jeje who recently quit Chennaiyin FC after being with it for six seasons, said. It is understood that four franchises have shown interest in him and it is likely that he will return to Kolkata, where he spent a sizeable period of his professional career.
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