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Journalism of Courage
The Indian Football Associations decision to forward the Bhaichung Bhutia vs Mohun Bagan issue to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has irked the club with Bagan officials thinking of pulling out of the IFA Shield in protest. However,club sources say that Bagan will pull out of the tournament only if the AIFFs players status committee rules in Bhutia’s favour. The IFA Shield is scheduled to begin from August 25.
Chakraborty,who wants to play for Bagan this season,has alleged that East Bengal have forged his contract papers and are refusing to release him.
Meanwhile,the AIFFs decision to call a meeting of Kolkata clubs to address their concerns regarding releasing players for India camps by July 10 is yet to materialise,and Mitra said they are yet to hear anything from the federation.
Seeking clarifications
The KP Sunny-led AIFFs players’ status committee,entrusted with deciding on the Bhutia case,has sought clarifications from the federation before taking up the issue. No date for any meeting has yet been fixed. We have been informed of the case by the AIFF but I have sought some clarifications, Sunny said.
Bhutia,who was suspended by Mohun Bagan for six months,had approached both the IFA and the AIFF to resolve the issue at the earliest. While IFA had earlier sidelined the matter,forcing the AIFF to interfere,IFA secretary Utpal Ganguly has now written to the AIFF that the state association was not happy with the federation’s interference.
