Why I-League fiasco involving Churchill Brothers and Inter Kashi is another blow to All India Football Federation's credibility
In another universe, the story could have been about the return of Churchill Brothers — one of India's finest legacy football clubs — to the country's top division. Or, it would have been about a team formed just 21 months ago, representing India's most populous state but a footballing black hole — Uttar Pradesh — staging a remarkable triumph before their second birthday.
Either way, it would have made for a compelling tale, one that the I-League — severely mishandled by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) — constantly keeps producing.
Yet, it is neither.
On Sunday, three weeks after the final round of matches were played, the AIFF handed over the I-League trophy to Churchill Brothers. Minutes later, rather embarrassingly, they had to ring the club and ask them to return the silverware. This, after the intervention of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Inter Kashi had appealed the AIFF's decision to declare Churchill as the champions before the sports court, which stayed the move. The AIFF claims they went ahead with the trophy presentation as they were unaware of the CAS order because their office was closed on Sunday.
And so, India's tier 2 league still has no winners and the 13 Indian Super League teams will wait further to know which of the two teams — Churchill or Kashi — will join them in the top division next season.
The reason for this mess? A mere technicality involving a nondescript, journeyman Brazilian forward who plays for neither of the two clubs.
The controversy
Dé — or Cledson Carvalho da Silva, a Brazilian centre forward — had played for a dozen clubs in seven years before he landed at Namdhari last year. In his uneventful career, he's played 117 matches and scored 35 times, according to the website Transfermarkt. It's the rare occasion Dé finds himself involved in a title battle — one where, ironically neither he nor his team Namdhari stand to gain.
On January 13, Namdhari beat Inter Kashi 2-0 in the I-League. After the match was over, Inter Kashi disputed the result, alleging that Namdhari had fielded an ineligible player, Dé. They contended that Dé should have been suspended under the AIFF's rules, claiming he had accumulated four yellow cards through the season. The fact that one of his yellow cards led to a sending-off presented a confusing scenario for the parties involved.
The protest and the appeal
It took more than one month for the AIFF's Disciplinary Committee, headed by a former Uttarakhand High Court judge, to announce its verdict. On February 24, the committee upheld Inter Kashi's appeal and handed them a 3-0 win. At that point, it placed Inter Kashi above Churchill Brothers in the title race.
Namdhari immediately appealed the decision. The Punjab-based club claimed that the AIFF's portal 'did not show' that the player was suspended for the match and hence, they fielded him.
Another month later, on March 27, the AIFF Appeals Committee, headed by a former Allahabad High Court judge, put the earlier decision in abeyance. It meant that Churchill regained their position at the top of the table. The appeals committee said it would continue hearing the case on April 28, long after the league was done and dusted.
On April 6, when the referees blew their whistles for the final time this season, celebrations erupted simultaneously in Srinagar, where Churchill did just enough against Real Kashmir to finish top of the table with 40 points, and in Kalyani, where Inter Kashi defeated Rajasthan United.
Inter Kashi ended the season that afternoon at 39 points but hoped that if the AIFF's appeals committee give the verdict in their favour, like the disciplinary panel, they would get the three points and leapfrog Churchill to become champions.
Amidst confusion and outcry over the lack of clarity regarding the champions, the appeals committee brought forward the hearing to April 12. And after speaking to all parties, it sided with Namdhari, thus paving the way for Churchill to be crowned the champions on April 20 — two weeks after the league was over.
Inter Kashi approached CAS, which on Sunday, when the AIFF handed over the trophy to Churchill, stayed the decision.
The saga, which will continue for the next few weeks (CAS has given Churchill and Namdhari time till Tuesday to submit their replies) has left the AIFF's reputation battered.
AIFF's reputation in tatters
The AIFF has already outsourced the running of the Indian Super League to Football Sports Development Limited, where Reliance Sports has a big say. It has left the national team in the doldrums because of a lack of vision. The grassroots programmes have been in limbo. Its coffers are drying up. And a Supreme Court verdict could well lead to another administrative shake-up.
Amidst all the gloom hanging over Indian football, the I-League kept the romance alive by dishing out thrilling finales one season after another and producing new champions from different corners of the country. Now, they have bungled up that, too.
This season could have been a story of the enduring resistance of the I-League. Rather, it turned into an event that landed another blow to the AIFF's credibility.
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