Resolve My Sister’s Visa, Urges Footballer Aditi Chauhan’s Brother

• Aaditya Chauhan urges India to help his sister Aditi Chauhan to get a Visa, so that she can continue playing in UK.
• Goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan is on the verge of being forced to cut short her stint with West Ham United due to a student visa.
• Aaditya Chauhan started a petition on Change.org to catch the eye of the Indian government.

Last week, when thousands of Indian football fans were cheering for various English premier league teams ranging from Arsenal to Manchester United, in one quiet corner of England a young Indian female football player was toiling and practising hard with her goalkeeping coach for her match the following day.

She could have chosen to stay at home like many of us did and enjoy the football action, but she chose to fight the extreme cold in England and venture out to face the winter in order to build and improve her game.

This young female footballer, who became the first Indian to play for an English Premier league club – West Ham United and subsequently was awarded the Asian Footballer award at a ceremony at the iconic Wembley Stadium, is my sister, Aditi Chauhan.

A young 22-year old who has been representing the country for the past 6 years and has been a part of various national team triumphs such as the SAFF Cup and AFC championship.

My sister has always had big dreams. But what sets her apart from all the others is her focus and dedication towards achieving those dreams. When we would be asleep on a chilly December morning, she would be out on the field practicing her goalkeeping skills.

When we would be too concerned about the heatwave and the sweltering heat during the summer, she would place an ice pack around her neck and work on improving her game.

It’s this single-minded dedication of hers that has helped her reach where she is today. At a very early age, she set herself some goals and by utter dedication and god’s grace, has been able to achieve many of them.

But what does Aditi get in return for all that she has done for the country? After making the entire nation proud by achieving a feat that no Indian Footballer has ever been able to achieve ever before, she is on the verge of being forced to cut short her stint with West Ham United. Only because her visa wouldn’t allow her to continue playing for the club.

Is this what a young budding talent gets in response to the efforts that she has put in the past 10 years? Someone who has achieved this feat deserves much more respect and support from not only her fans and thousands of people that she is an inspiration for, but also from the government.

I was anxious for Aditi to get some help and I wanted the world to know what issues she was facing. So I started a petition on Change.org, hoping it would catch the eye of the government. I hoped it could then be helpful in resolving the issue faced by Aditi.

The petition received unprecedented support from different quarters and was able to rope in over 11,500 supporters. But even after such support and Aditi’s story being captured in major Indian dailies, neither the government nor any organization came forward to help Aditi.

While the lack of support and uncertainty over her future has dampened Aditi’s spirits, the situation has still not been able to crush her resolve. Comments from various people who signed the petition has acted as a great morale booster for Aditi and her family, and they have continued their efforts to help Aditi overcome this situation by trying to reach out to government officials and organisations.

While Aditi returns to India in just a few days to participate in the SAF cup, she still dreams of continuing her career in UK or in US and participate in the sport at a much higher level.

The FIFA president, on his visit to India last year, called India the ‘sleeping giant’ of the footballing world. A country that is hosting the U-17 FIFA world cup in 2017 needs idols such as Aditi to help promote the game among the masses and attract larger crowds to the stadium.

If the ‘beautiful game’ is to find widespread support in the country, it is imperative that former and current players are treated with much more respect than what has been done till now. And supporting my sister Aditi in her quest can just be the start of it all.