Churchill wants AIFF to waive off Rs 50,000 fine

NT NETWORK
Posted on 2008-11-15
PANAJI - Churchill Bros patron Mr Churchill Alemao, who was fined Rs 50,000 by the All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) disciplinary committee, today said that he would appeal to the Jury of Appeals committee to get the fine waived off.
“I will appeal before the jury appeal committee but will not pay the fine as I have not committed the fault. It is my right to discuss with the match commissioner and I do not regret for the same. The match commissioner should instead punish the erring referee who disallowed the goal,” Mr Alemao told a press conference in Margao on Friday.
Mr Alemao was fined yesterday for his alleged misconduct towards the Match Commissioner, Mr J P Singh in Churchill’s I-League match against Dempo on November 5. After having a heated argument with Mr Singh, Mr Alemao flung papers on the floor from the table in the VIP gallery after a goal was disallowed by referee Dinesh Nair in the dying minutes of the match. “The Jury Appeal committee along with AIFF Vice-President, Mr Praful Patel should see the video footage which clearly shows that the player was not offside. I am ready to disband the team if they do not waive off the fine,” Mr Alemao added.
Talking about the Goa Football Association’s decision to dock Churchill Bros six points for fielding their third registered foreign player against Salgaocar SC, Mr Alemao said: “The decision taken by GFA secretary is unbelievable. The AIFF rule says that two foreigners are allowed to play in the local league and a third foreigner can be registered but did not mention specifically that the registered player cannot play in the first eleven.”
We fielded the registered foreigner in a match only when one of the two foreigners was injured. If the GFA or the referee thought we were wrong they should have objected before the match had started, Mr Alemao said.
“Football runs in our blood and we have been in this arena for the last 30 years. Being the only family club, with no resources from outside, we are finding it difficult to run the team with the expenditure running in crores,” he said.
“But if the referee tries to kill the team in this manner I will have to take a harsh decision and dismantle the team,” he added.
“We had also written to the match commissioner about the repeated mistakes committed by the referee. However, instead of taking action against the erring referee, the commissioner sided with him. This infuriated me and hence I questioned the match commissioner,” Mr Alemao exclaimed.
“Even earlier, our team has been at the receiving end from the referees and that had cost us the national title,” he said. “Earlier, only teams from Bengal used to win major titles. It’s only after my team entered in the national league, that the scenario changed and teams from Goa, Mumbai, Punjab and Kerala began to beat them,” Mr Alemao said.“It’s only after my initiative that players started getting decent salaries,” he said.