Kiren Rijiju
Union minister Kiren Rijiju

Union minister of state for youth affairs & sports Kiren Rijiju has urged Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to look after the affairs of sports of the national capital properly.

“Delhi CM @ArvindKejriwal ji may be busy for political activities but I request him to put someone in his cabinet to look after the affairs of sports properly,” Rijiju twitted on Monday evening.

Rijiju’s comments came after the Delhi girls under-21 football team at Khelo India in Guwahati on Monday ‘made itself laughing stock’ when the team fielded nine players with no option on the bench.

A football match normally needs 11 players and three substitutes a side.

While opponent Odisha team came up with 18 players, the Delhi team took the field with only nine players, Mail Today reported.

The team suffered a heavy defeat of 0-10 to Odisha.

A Delhi government official handling the football team said the entire team could not reach on time for the event because half of the players stuck in Bhubaneswar due to flight delay.

“We could only field nine players on the first day because the remaining players couldn’t reach on time for the match as their flight got delayed,” the newspaper quoted the official as saying.