A little step regarding the withdrawal of seven I-League clubs from Super Cup 2019 was taken in an AIFF League Committee meeting in Bhubaneswar on Saturday.
Subrata Dutta, senior vice president, All India Football Federation and chairman, League Committee chaired the meeting while BK Roka, Chirag Tanna, Rochak Langer along with Sunando Dhar, CEO, I-League were present besides Rahul Mascarenhas, chairman, Legal Advisory Committee and Vece Paes, chairman, Sports Medical Committee.
The committee deliberated upon withdrawal of the I-League clubs and studied the relevant clauses or sections of I-League participation agreement and Super Cup regulations.
The committee then unanimously decided to refer the matter to the Disciplinary Committee.
The other matters to be discussed in the meeting included age fraud, the postponed Srinagar match between Minerva Punjab FC and Real Kashmir FC in the I-League and the questions raised on the integrity of Chennai City FC vs Minerva Punjab FC, which was the final and I-League title winning match for Chennai.
REAL KASHMIR VS MINERVA PUNJAB MATCH
Real Kashmir were to host Minerva Punjab for an I-League match on February 18 but Minerva did not turn up for the match giving security issues as the reason.
The Pulwama terror attack had happened just four days before that and Minerva asked for written security assurance to come for the match. Upon not receiving the same, Minerva did not come for the match.
The disciplinary committee had first called it a walkover but it was later decided that a re-match will happen.
However, in the meeting on Saturday, it was said that both Real Kashmir and Minerva were ready to share the point and hence, the same was decided.
“The Hero I-League 2018-19 match between Real Kashmir FC and Minerva Punjab FC scheduled on February 18, 2019 was to be rescheduled later as per the decision taken by the Emergency Committee.
“Both the teams have communicated to AIFF that they agree to share one point apiece and the same was approved by the League Committee in today’s (Saturday) meeting. Hence, Real Kashmir FC finish their campaign third on the points table with 37 points from 20 matches whereas Minerva Punjab FC will wrap up in the ninth position with 18 points having played the same number of matches,” the AIFF statement said.
AGE FRAUD
The Sub-junior championships were rocked after three NorthEastern clubs and Minerva Punjab were caught in age fraud cases.
Upon the bone-age test, it came out that the players did not belong to the age category they were playing in.
AIFF has now taken a call on the matter. “It was decided that TW3 method of bone-age determination will be implemented for the Sub-Junior National Championship next season onward. Meanwhile, the Committee decided that the eligibility to participate in upcoming Hero Sub-junior and Junior League 2019-20 season will be a bone-age rating upto 13.4 and 15.4 years respectively, received under the AIFF BADP Guidelines.”
INVESTIGATION OF CHENNAI CITY FC VS MINERVA PUNJAB FC
Chennai City FC’s title-winning match against Minerva Punjab FC in the I-League came under scanner after the match commissioner raised concerns over some of the decisions taken in the match.
However, nothing has come out of it. “The AIFF Integrity Officer conducted a thorough investigation on the Hero I-League match between Chennai City FC and Minerva Punjab FC. The matter was investigated from all angles and relevant documents were collected and persons were examined. The AIFF Integrity Officer didn’t find anything against the integrity of the game and there is nothing to suspect about the true spirit of the game. The committee accepted his views.”
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