‘I-League clubs in clear violation of contract with AIFF’

By Debayan Mukherjee

Kolkata, June 29 (IANS) Clause 2 of the contract between the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and Minerva FC states that the club agrees that AIFF shall not be held responsible in any way if the agreement between the two parties is terminated in the event the I-League ceases to exist or is merged with or reconstituted to form a part of any other league.

To now, think that club owner Ranjit Bajaj leaves no opportunity to bring the image of the federation to disrepute not just in interviews, but also on social media. The question that the federation is keen to ask is whether or not he deserves to be disciplined for these acts of his which they feel are aimed at creating a sense of negativity among football fans in the country.

"This is nothing but an attempt to turn the general public against the AIFF. We have tried our best to request him to maintain dignity but our silence should not be considered as our weakness. I-League clubs are in clear violation of their contract with the federation," a senior AIFF official told IANS.

In fact, even as few I-League clubs continue their protest against the AIFF, threating to take legal action if the Indian Super League (ISL) is named the top football league in India, contracts signed between them and the parent body states that they cannot pre-empt situations and take actions which is then a "breach" of protocol.

As per the release of the unified I-League clubs, the AIFF is likely to make the ISL the top football league, superseding the I-League, from the 2019-20 season, and the clubs are already toying with the idea of taking legal steps. But the fact that AIFF general secretary Kushal Das has said that the Executive Committee shall be vested with the power to discuss the matter seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

The clubs met earlier in the week and announced that they would approach the "appropriate courts" when such a decision is announced. The joint statement on these lines carried the signatures of representatives from East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, Gokulam Kerala, Minerva Punjab and Churchill Brothers.

Among them, former champions Minvera Punjab have been most vocal about AIFF's "step motherly" treatment towards them. An official in the know of developments though downplayed the acts of Bajaj saying that facts are there for all to go through and lambasting the governing body via a series of tweets whenever things do not go as per his whims and fancies isn't the way forward.

"In the contract with clubs, the AIFF clearly states under obligations of the club in point 7 (g), that the club shall not act in any manner which is materially prejudical to the game of football and/or the League, AIFF, AFC and FIFA.

"Further, in point 8.2, it also says that the AIFF can terminate the agreement if the club is in breach of any of the points under it," the AIFF official pointed.

IANS went through the agreement to check on the points and these points are included in the 13-page agreement.

According to the I-League clubs, the AIFF Executive Committee meeting on July 9 will rubber-stamp the decision to make ISL the top league, but the parent body has said the whole thing is nothing but imagination as the AIFF officials don't wish to interfere in the process.

"It must also be borne in mind that AIFF has already spoken to its commercial partners FSDL about the concerns of the I-League clubs," the AIFF had said in a statement.

The statement added that the AIFF had asked Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) General Secretary Dato Windsor John to come to India to address the issues surrounding the I-League.

"As a matter of fact, a decision regarding the Indian Super League becoming a league were also discussed with AFC, and FIFA before it was given recognition, and even for any future decisions AFC and FIFA will be duly consulted."

But the some of I-League clubs boycotted the Super Cup for which the AIFF incurred huge amount of losses.

The clubs did not take part in the competition as AIFF President Praful Patel did not meet them, a claim AIFF brushed aside. "It is surprising that the clubs have accused the AIFF President of not giving them any audience for their grievances. In fact, the only time they sought an audience was before the commencement of the Super Cup, where they were duly informed that the AIFF President will meet them any day between April 10-14, 2019, as the President had prior commitments for the FIFA Council Election on April 6 in Kuala Lumpur, as well as the Lok Sabha general elections.

"Despite the assurance, the clubs did not meet the President, and rather pre-maturely pulled out of the Super Cup, causing huge financial losses and negativity for a tournament for they had confirmed their participation. It must be mentioned that post pulling out of the Super Cup, no appointment has so far been sought by the clubs."

Clearly there are two sides to the coin and as a senior AIFF official said, silence shouldn't be construed as weakness.

(Debayan Mukherjee can be contacted at debayan.m@ians.in)