FOOTBALL | CAS nixes AIFF’s decision to award I-League title to Churchill Brothers

The All India Football Federation’s decision to award the I-League title to Churchill Brothers ran into trouble after the Court of Arbitration for Sport issued a stay order on the decision on Sunday.

However, the CAS order could not stop the AIFF from conducting the presentation ceremony in Goa. The official communication from the Lausanne based court reached the national federation after the function was over, according to an AIFF statement.

The I-League title became a contentious issue after Inter Kashi was awarded full three points initially by the AIFF disciplinary committee which found Namdhari FC guilty of fielding an ineligible player (in match No. 45).

This “forfeiture ruling” was later stayed by the AIFF appeals committee as Namdhari appealed against the order and the matter also reached the Delhi High Court. The appeals committee finally decided to overturn the disciplinary committee decision after a protracted process on April 18 almost two weeks after the tournament ended.

This denied Inter Kashi the benefit of the initial forfeiture ruling and made Churchill the champion on the basis of points accrued in the final league standings (40 points).

An aggrieved Inter Kashi approached CAS, which accepted the “application for provisional measures” and stayed the AIFF’s decision. The CAS has given AIFF, Namdhari and Churchill time till April 29 to reply against the Inter Kashi complaint.

“The All India Football Federation would like to clarify that, with regard to the Court of Arbitration for Sport order, due to a holiday in the AIFF secretariat, the Federation was only informed of the order at a time when the (award) ceremony had already been concluded in Goa. The AIFF remains committed to adhering to all regulatory and legal processes and will take appropriate action,” the AIFF statement read.