Minerva owner in a soup, again

New Delhi: Minerva Punjab FC owner Ranjit Bajaj is again caught in the crosshairs of the All-India Football Federation (AIFF). The AFC Emergency Medicine physician Dr Fenton Desouza has complained against Bajaj for “misbehaviour and manhandling of the medical and ambulance staff.”

Minerva FC midfielder Makan Winkle Chothe had collapsed after colliding with Reliance Foundation Youth Sports goalkeeper K Jackson Singh during a Hero Elite League (U-18) match in Goa, and Bajaj was credited with reviving him after performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

However, Dr Desouza, in his letter to AIFF, has alleged that Bajaj’s actions could have threatened the life and career of the player. Chothe had collapsed because of suffering a concussion, which followed an epileptic seizure. “Even after the doctor and ambulance staff explained to him the condition of the player and Ranjit Bajaj deciding to treat his own player, he went berserk screaming at the ambulance staff and doctor and even holding the neck of the ambulance driver and catching his collar and breaking the buttons of his shirt (sic),” Dr Fenton wrote in his letter.

“Little knowledge is very dangerous and actions of Ranjit Bajaj could harm the player and his career, and I would request AIFF to take action against the owner of Minerva Punjab,” he said.

AIFF general secretary Kusal Das said he would forward the complaint to the medical committee. “It is a very serious matter and we will place this before our medical committee. This kind of action can create a huge issue. If you are not a doctor and you are trying to treat somebody, it is very dangerous,” Das said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Kashmir Monitor staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)