FC Goa co-owner summoned for AIFF meeting on Jan 25
One month and five days after the fracas following the final of ISL2 where Chennaiyin FC beat FC Goa 3-2, the disciplinary committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) will meet in New Delhi.
One month and five days after the fracas following the final of ISL2 where Chennaiyin FC beat FC Goa 3-2, the disciplinary committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) will meet in New Delhi.
In the meeting scheduled for January 25, FC Goa co-owner Dattaraj Salgaocar, team manager Jonathan Sousa and Rajesh Malgi, equipment manager, have been asked to be present.
“We must give FC Goa adequate chance to present their case. I am not ruling out multiple hearings,” said an AIFF official requesting anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue.
The AIFF’s decision on Monday follows FC Goa replying last week to the showcause notice issued by the federation. The AIFF showcause has asked FC Goa to explain whether its players and officials and misbehaved with Japanese referee Yamamoto Yudai, why the team didn’t attend the post-match presentation and whether reports in the media quoting Salgaocar as saying that the result of the final was pre-decided were true.
According to two sources in the federation, who spoke independently to HT on Monday and who have seen the reply, FC Goa haven’t accepted most of what match commissioner AK Mamukoya and Yudai have separately said in their reports. HT has not seen FC Goa’s reply.
Mamukoya has said in his report, a copy of which is with HT, that after the final whistle, officials and FC Goa’s substitute players led by Malgi “rushed to the referee, surrounded him and scared him with physical gestures…. Referees group (from Japan) were still abused in filthy language and were threatened with physical assault. We separated and somehow saved the referees from physical assault by FC Goa players and officials.”
It was only around midnight, after being forced to stay in the locker room for nearly 90 minutes, did the match officials leave the stadium “traumatized” for another hotel due to security reasons, said Mamukoya in his report.
Mamukoya’s report also mentions Chennaiyin FC’s marquee player Elano Blumer being surrounded by FC Goa players and officials who were “pushing him.”
“Top officials of FC Goa like Mr. S Dempo and Mr. D Salgaocar, whom I know for long associated with football, should have calmed down the situation instead became part of the undesirable atmosphere…,” said Mamukoya in his report on the December 20 final at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Margao.
“In my opinion, the behavior (sic) of FC Goa after the final whistle was unreasonable, undisciplined, bullish and frightening to say the least,” the match commissioner wrote.
“It was also shocking to know filing of an FIR and getting a player arrested for an alleged assault on a team owner of FC Goa is unprecedented and has done tremendous harm to the game…” Mamukoya said in his report. He was referring to the complaint against Blumer which had the former Brazil international spending nearly three hours at the Margao Police Station before bail could be arranged.
One day after the final, Salgaocar told the media in Panaji that Blumer had caught him by the neck, abused and elbowed him. Had action been taken against Blumer then --- such as a red card and he not being allowed to take his medal --- FC Goa wouldn’t have boycotted the prize distribution ceremony, he and co-owner Shrinivas Dempo had said. Nor would he have filed the FIR, Salgaocar had said.