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    Against The Odds, A Pro Soccer Team In Kashmir Is Close To Winning India's Top Title

    Real Kashmir FC is less than three years old and plays soccer in a troubled Himalayan region prone to violence, strikes and heavy snow. Soldiers with machine guns patrol the home stadium.
    by Lauren Frayer Feb 24, 2019 4 minutes
    Snowflakes began accumulating on the turf by halftime during a Feb. 6 game at Real Kashmir's home stadium in Srinagar. The coach of the visiting team said later that some members of his team, from southern India, had never seen snow.

    They play soccer in a disputed Himalayan valley prone to car bombs, strikes and heavy snow. Soldiers with machine guns patrol their home stadium. Players sometimes have to arrive at practice three hours early to avoid police curfews. Their team is less than three years old, with a budget that's one-tenth that of some of their competitors.

    Now, against all odds, Real Kashmir Football Club, from Indian-controlled Kashmir, is tantalizingly close to winning India's top professional soccer title. They've been flitting back and forth between first, second and third place, and the season ends in early March.

    "We're the only club in India that has sold-out stadiums at almost every game," says the team's co-founder Shamim Mehraj. "What

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