Panaji, Jan 7: Churchill Brothers Sports Club have asked the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for a written assurance that any player injured on national duty will be adequately compensated by the federation.
“The AIFF should give us an assurance that they would pay the salary of the player if he gets injured while on national duty and is not eligible to play for the club,” Churchill Brothers CEO Macario Rodrigues wrote in a letter to AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das.
Gouramangi Singh, Lalrindika Ralte and goalkeeper Felix D'Souza are three Churchill players in the squad for India's international friendly against Bayern Munich next week.
The AIFF has at least as of now not taken Churchill's request into consideration and instead pointed out to the club that “none of the regulations” compel them to pay for the salaries of injured footballers.
Churchill Brothers then fired another salvo, this time pointing out that India's International friendly against Bayern Munich in Delhi on January 10, was not discussed during the clubs meeting with the AIFF on October 10, 2011.
“The match is not part of the official competition. We were only told about the release of players for the SAFF Cup. If the AIFF has any proof to the contrary they should keep us informed,” said Macario.
The exchange of letters between Churchill and the AIFF is a direct fall out of Sunil Chhetri's injury at the SAFF Cup.
Chhetri, his club Mohun bagan claimed, was injnured in the semifinals yet he was still fielded for the final against Afghanistan.
“Sunil Chhetri was injured during the semi-final match and he should not have been fielded at all for the final match. However, no discretion was exercised by the team management of the national side, which aggravated his injury to such an extent that he is ruled out of action for about 6-8 weeks,” Mohun Bagan Managing Director Anjan Mitra wrote in the letter to the AIFF.
“You are requested to please look into the matter and take appropriate and suitable action against those responsible for this incident. Please also let us know how the AIFF plans to compensate the club for such a loss,” Mitra said, adding that the absence of the striker at this critical juncture of the I-League is a huge blow to the club's campaign.
