New Delhi: India's Under-14 girls football team, which has five Odia women footballers, returned to Delhi today safely from the earthquake-affected Kathmandu, the national capital of Nepal.
The team including Janaki Murmu, Iva Panna, Banya Kabiraj and Shanti Murmu and deputy coach Shraddhnajli Samantray were in Kathmandu to participate in the Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) Regional Championship for the South and Central Zone.
Though the evacuation operations of the football women team was delayed due to fresh tremors today noon in Nepal, the footballers and team officials reached in Delhi airport at around 4.55 pm.
An aircraft that was to bring the stranded team back to the country was scheduled to leave the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu at 12.30 p.m, an All India Football Federation (AIFF) official told IANS.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had earlier tweeted that the government has prioritised the evacuation of the team. "We will evacuate India's U-14 girls football team on priority."