No stretcher, so Mumbai Univ officials try to carry player on ladder, bench

In an era where the multimillion dollar Indian Super League promises to uplift the state of the beautiful game heres an ugly story of apathy and that too in an age group which is the stepping stone to the world of professional footballAlso ReadNo medical care for injured teenage female player at DSO meetThe victim Ajay JaiswalDnyanasadhana College Thane defender Ajay Jaiswal winces in pain after he breaks his shin during a Mumbai University intercollege football match at the RKT College Ground in Panvel yesterdayWhen 19yearold Ajay Jaiswal of Thanes Dnyanasadhana College stepped onto the CKT College Ground in Panvel for a Mumbai University intercollegiate football match against SK College Nerul little did he know that hed leave the ground on a stretcherAlso ReadLack of proper sporting infrastructure at grassroots level hurting Mumbai youngstersShockingly there was no stretcher initially to help the poor defender who 10 minutes into the game broke his shin following a harsh tackle from an opposition forwardPoor solutionsJaiswals coach Taposh Ghosh the former AirIndia and Maharashtra midfielder was appalled by what he saw nextSolution 1 LadderIn the absence of a stretcher tournament organisers bring a ladder to place under Jaiswal to carry him out of the groundI was shocked when the organisers first brought a ladder on which they tried to place Ajay to take him out of the ground When this failed they brought in a school benchAlso ReadMSSA U16 St Lawrence left to play match in poor lightFinally they got an autorickshaw onto the ground but Ajay was simply immovable and wailing in pain all this while For around 15 minutes Ajay was crying Seeing him I was reduced to tears too and so were couple of his teammatesSolution 2 BenchWhen the ladder idea fails a bench is brought to carry Jaiswal offFinally after some frantic calls an ambulance arrived a good 1520 minutes later and took Ajay to the nearby Veer Hospital Ghosh told midday yesterdayThe tournament is held under the aegis of the Mumbai University and is divided into four clusters depending on the area The Panvel ground is hosting the fourth cluster that includes colleges from in and around Thane and VashiFinally in hospitalJaiswal is finally admitted to the Veer Hospital in PanvelCKT Colleges Physical Education PE director Vinod Naik who is helping Mumbai University conduct this cluster of the tournament said he did his best in the given situation We conduct the tournament the way the University asks us toWe have a tieup with a nearby hospital whereby whenever we rush in a patient he is given priority and that was also the case with Ajay today Naik said When questioned about the absence of a stretcher and an ambulance Naik expressed helplessnessDnyanasadhana College Thane coach Taposh GhoshExcept Mumbai University all universities in Maharashtra have compelled colleges to have PE directors Due to this the grievances of Mumbais players and coaches do not reach authoritiesThe few PE directors who attend the meeting with University officials at the start of the year do not open their mouths fearing that their college authorities will pull them up for speaking against the University Its a sad situation said NaikUniversity official sorryMumbai Universitys Director of Sports Dr Uttam Kendre said he was sorry to hear about the incident and will ensure such an episode will not recur The ThaneVashi leg is the initial phase of the tournament and has been handed over to the CKT College authorities As far as I know they have medical assistance at handMumbai Universitys Director of Sports Dr Uttam Kendre I will speak to Vinod Naik and ensure such an incident is never repeated Anyway the next round of the tournament is at the University Pavilion in Marine Lines which offers one of the best playing facilities to youngsters said KendreMeanwhile the news from Veer Hospital in Panvel is that Jaiswal has suffered not one but two fractures on his shin and will be out of action for over a monthThe young footballers coach sounded sombre While Ajay will watch the second edition of the ISL beginning on October 3 on TV from his bed I wont be surprised if his dream of becoming a professional footballer comes to a premature end thanks to the Mumbai Universitys apathy coach Ghosh signed off