AIFF to impose heavier fines on I-League clubs for boycotting Indian Super Cup

I-League clubs which did not turn up in the Indian Super Cup earlier this year will be fined a whopping ₹27.5 lakhs by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) rather than the amount of 10 lakhs which was decided earlier. An alliance of I-League clubs refused to field their respective teams in the AIFF organised tournament which was staged in Bhubaneswar.

Last month, the Ushanath Banerjee-chaired disciplinary committee decided that the five concerned teams will be fined an amount of 10 lakhs, while East Bengal was supposed to slip 5 lakhs for the incident. On the other hand, Mohun Bagan’s penalty would be decided later since they did not register their team for the tournament.

As per the reports of The Times of India, the same disciplinary committee which met on Saturday changed their judgement in a miraculous turn of events and decided to impose heavier fines (27.5 lakhs) on the I-League teams as a “compensation” for the loss incurred by the AIFF for the non-participation in the Super Cup. The case of Mohun Bagan is still hanging in the balance.

It is learnt that the Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the marketing and commercial partner of the AIFF was not convinced with the amount fined and wanted them to take a heavier action on the clubs. There is also an attempt by the organisation to make the Indian Super League (ISL) as the top league of the country, a designation which is still held by the traditional I-League.

The clubs although did not comment on the matter since they are yet to receive 'official' communication from the AIFF. Mohun Bagan’s financial secretary Debashis Dutta was not inclined to spare words on the particular matter but he said, “it is a fact that football here is staring at a bleak future and nobody seems to be serious about it.”