Bajaj reprimanded by AIFF for ‘unparliamentary’ language on social media

By Jagannath Chatterjee

New Delhi, Sep 28 (IANS) Minerva Punjab FC owner Ranjit Bajaj has been let off with a reprimand by the All India Football Federation's (AIFF) Ethics Committee for pushing out derogatory, damaging, unethical tweets/retweets from his verified Twitter accounts against AIFF, its officials and commercial partners.

Speaking to IANS, committee chairman Amod Kanth said: "We have sent him a communication and he has been reprimanded for the kind of tweets and re-tweets he has done. The language was not proper at all. He appeared before us and he admitted this fact that the language was not proper. It was definitely unparliamentary."

Asked if any monetary fine was issued against the I-League club owner, Kanth said: "We have warned him and Bajaj -- who appeared along with his lawyer -- has pledged not to do this again."

Kanth said that though there were some other issues too like bringing confidential documents in the public domain, but Bajaj was reprimanded primarily because of the language of the tweets.

Bajaj was served the showcause notice by AIFF's Ethics Committee on July 10 and asked to reply within 15 days regarding his actions and its effect on the image of Indian football and the federation. The notice pointed at around 45 derogatory, damaging and unethical tweets/retweets made by the I-League team owner.