AIFF closes door on Churchill’s ISL move

Panaji: Churchill Brothers FC were left in a state of uncertainty after the All India Football Federation (AIFF) executive committee decided against admitting the Goan side in the Indian Super League (ISL), which kicks off on Saturday.“There is no provision for a second team from the I-League to be promoted,” a senior member who attended the meeting told TOI on Thursday. “There is no ambiguity with the (CAS) order. It’s clear that the I-League champions, Inter Kashi in this case, have to be promoted to the ISL.”Churchill Bros owner Churchill Alemao and CEO Valanka Alemao, also an executive committee member, met AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey in the Capital last week and told him that they deserved to play in the top-tier ISL after being crowned I-League champions at the end of the league campaign.

That decision, however, was later overturned by the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) who ruled in favour of Inter Kashi.Churchill said the CAS decision came as “shock and surprise to the entire football fraternity.” The final order, the club said, is yet to be made available.Following a request from three members, the AIFF convened a second meeting on Thursday after the first one was adjourned due to lack of quorum.

“You cannot discount Churchill’s contribution to Indian football. The club has been around for close to four decades and has major successes. But adding a team with just two days left for the league to kick off would make all of us a laughing stock,” said another official.According to sources, Churchill’s proposal officially found favour with only one of the 17 members who attended the executive committee meeting.An email with from LKK, Inter Kashi’s legal team, which maintained that the “CAS award is fully enforceable and there is no legal reason to provisionally include Churchill in ISL” was shared with the members. They were also apprised of the ISL clubs’ stand, who collectively said the addition of a new team was unacceptable.“The ISL season is already being organised under a defined competitive framework and regulatory structure.

Any mid-cycle or ad-hoc inclusion of a club side of an established sporting pathway undermines competitive integrity and sets a precedent contrary to merit-based participation, thereby compromising the credibility of the competition,” all ISL clubs, except Mohammedan Sporting, had previously written to all executive committee members.The AIFF decision is a huge setback for Churchill who were firm on playing in the top-flight and had threatened to shut down the club if their request isn’t accepted.The former champions have not attended any meetings involving I-League clubs.Last week when AIFF convened a meeting of I-League clubs, it was put to the clubs to decide on Churchill’s participation, should they wish to make a late entry. The clubs, however, said the decision is best left to the federation.