With just eight days left for Argentinean coach Juan Marcos Troia’s deportation by the Union Home Ministry, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has written a letter to Home Minister P Chidambaram seeking a relook at the case so that the training of around a thousand aspiring Kashmiri footballers continues.

“I wrote a letter to the Home Minister explaining the importance of his (the coach’s) work. I am hopeful that the coach and his family will be allowed to stay and continue their work,” Omar Abdullah told The Indian Express. “I tried to reach Home Minister today but he was away. I will follow up on the letter tomorrow,” he added.

In his letter, Omar has explained the role the coach has been playing to attract young Kashmiri boys to football and help them become professional players, especially as sports has suffered in the past two decades here. He has also talked about how Marcos’s academy is providing a healthy outlet to young Kashmiris.