Indian footballer Jeakson Singh, who was part of the Sunil Chhetri-led side that won the 2023 SAFF Championships on July 4 (Tuesday) was targetted by a certain section of social media users after the images of him draped in the 'Meitei flag' at medal presentation ceremony went viral. Jeakson hails from Manipur, a state that has been engulfed in violence for the last two months now.
After some netizens reacted strongly to Jeakson's pictures, the Indian footballer responded and said that his actions were only meant to draw attention to the atrocities taking place in Manipur and not to hurt anyone's sentiments.
"I want to tell everyone in India and Manipur to stay in peace and not fight. I want peace. It’s been two months now and fighting is still going on. I don’t want this kind of thing to happen more. I want to bring this to the attention of the government and people to get peace. My family is safe but there are lots of families that have suffered and lost their homes," Jeakson said.
Meanwhile, Chhetri-led India beat Kuwait 5-4 on penalties to win SAFF Championship for the ninth time. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu turned out to be India’s hero in the penalties keeping two of them out to win the game for the hosts as ‘Vande Matram’ echoed in a jam-packed Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru.
For India Chhetri scored first in penalties. Kuwait did not start well as Abdullah hit the bar. Jhingan, Chhangte scored and so did Kuwait's next two strikers. But Kanteerava stadium went silent when Udanta missed the target. Two more goals were scored from either side and then Sandhu saved the shot to hand India a win in the final.
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