Kerala Blasters FC will miss the service of defender Naocha Singh Huidrom when they face off against Odisha FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) playoff. The 24-year-old was handed a three-match ban by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) disciplinary committee for a headbutt incident during the league game against East Bengal FC earlier this month.
Naocha Singh was also handed a Rs 20,000 fine by the disciplinary committee, reports said. His suspension is a major blow for Ivan Vukomanovic's side, which is missing many of its main players due to injuries.
KBFC struggled to make an impact after heading for the season break as ISL leaders. A string of unfavourable results in the absence of stars like Adrian Luna, Sachin Suresh and Vibin Mohanan among others witnessed the Kerala outfit fading away from the shield race before settling for the fifth position (33 points from 22 games).
Why was Naocha Singh Huidrom penalised?
Taking on East Bengal FC at home on April 3, KBFC had lost 4-2 despite scoring the first goal of the game. They finished the game with nine players as Jeakson Singh and Naocha were sent off in the 45th and 74th minute respectively.
Naocha Singh was shown a direct red card over a headbutting incident by the referee, eliminating his team's chance to script a comeback at Kaloor. He played 16 league games for the club this season. Spending a total of 1416 minutes on the pitch for the 'Manjappada', Singh managed three clean sheets and created 9 chances. It will be challenging for Vukomanovic to field a dominant back-four against Odisha in Singh's absence.
Jeakson Singh, meanwhile, has rejoined the squad having served his one-match suspension for the red card. He missed KBFC's penultimate league game against NEUFC and featured in the last league game against Hyderabad FC as a substitute.
