Minerva Punjab FC to appeal against AIFF’s ban on Ranjit Bajaj | Football News - Hindustan Times
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Minerva Punjab FC to appeal against AIFF’s ban on Ranjit Bajaj

Hindustan Times, Chandigarh | By
May 14, 2018 10:05 PM IST

Minerva Punjab FC called AIFF’s ban on Ranjit Bajaj ‘shocking and arbitrary’ and said that they will appeal against the suspension.

Reigning I-League champions Minerva Punjab FC came out in defence of their owner Ranjit Bajaj after the AIFF Disciplinary Committee banned him for one year from all football activity and also fined 10 lakh after being found ‘guilty’ of making racist remarks during his side’s U-18 Youth League match against Aizawl FC that ended in a 1-1 draw at JLN Stadium in Shillong on May 12.

In an official statement the club termed the ban as shocking and arbitrary.

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“We are shocked by the arbitrary decision of AIFF Disciplinary Committee to ban Bajaj for 12 months and slap a fine of 10 lakh simply because Bajaj made his displeasure about the terrible referring in the U-18 league clear to the match commissioner and officials,” the statement said.

READ | AIFF suspends Minerva Punjab FC owner Ranjit Bajaj for racial abuse

The statement further said that Bajaj was merely trying to highlight the mismanagement and lack of security at the league venues and termed it as an effort to paint their owner as an ‘unruly person’.

“This is a coordinated effort to paint him out to be unruly person just to cover up their (AIFF’s) own failure in upholding standards of the game. Bajaj had questioned the MC (match commissioner) before the match regarding the mismanagement and lack of security at the league venues where a theft of more than 1 lakh took place from one of the dressing rooms on previous match day. Even a FIR was filed, this irked the MC which led to his false reports,” the statement added.

This is certainly not the first time that Bajaj has been in a midst of a controversy. Bajaj has had a long list of cases against where police had named him as accused but in almost all the cases he was acquitted for lack of evidence.

The club further questioned the haste in which the ban and fine was imposed adding that no time was given to even file a reply or explanation.

READ | Indian U-16 football team target AFC finals after title win in Serbia

Giving a sort of timeline the club statement said:

“Proper procedures have not been followed. Bajaj is currently in Shillong along with our U-18 team. Bajaj was sent an email by the AIFF and May 13 asking him to reply before 7pm on the same day, and on the May 13 itself the decision of disciplinary committee was sent at 11pm. This undue haste is not only unprecedented but highly questionable. We will appeal the decision and hope for justice form the appeals committee.”

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Ashutosh Sharma is based in Chandigarh and has been a sports journalist for over a decade. He mainly writes on cricket.

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