Manipur's ethnic violence splinters teams and sporting dreams

BENGALURU : Ethnic clashes in India's Manipur state saw its most successful women's club fail to field a team in the Indian Women's League in 2023-24, with its coach fleeing his burning home and a number of players in self-imposed exile interstate.

The unrest in the northeastern state, which has resulted in more than 200 dead and tens of thousands displaced, divided football teams like Eastern Sporting Union (ESU) along ethnic lines and forced some players out of the state.

"At first we didn't think it would be that bad, but suddenly it was everywhere," former ESU skipper Irom Prameshwori Devi, who has since joined East Bengal, told Reuters of the outbreak of violence.

"We had five Kuki players in the team ... they were scared because Kukis were being attacked on the streets of Imphal. We were trying to assure them it would be fine, but houses were being burned by then."

Violence erupted in Manipur on May 3, 2023 between the majority Meitei and minority Kuki communities over the potential sharing of economic benefits and quotas in government jobs and education.

As warring groups set fire to each other's homes and places of worship, football teams in the capital Imphal also found themselves splintered.

ESU coach Ngampao Kipgen, a member of the Kuki tribe, told Reuters he was forced to flee to the hills with his family after his house was burned down.

"They came in the middle of the night. I had to leave with my wife and children," Ngampao said. "I have no team here, no income. I am helpless."

According to official figures released in February, Ngampao's house was one of more than 13,000 structures destroyed during the violence.

ESU manager Homendro Irengbam said the conflict, which broke out while the team was playing in the IWL