Churchill’s battle may end up in CAS

Panaji: Churchill Brothers Sports Club will learn early next month if they will have a role to play in the next edition of the I-League.
The former I-League champions had dragged the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to court after they were denied a licence to play in the I-League. Churchill are backed by the Goa Football Association and are now awaiting the outcome of their case filed in the Delhi High Court.
“We believe we have a strong case. The next hearing is now on October 9,” said club patron Churchill Alemao
At the last hearing, the Court had issued a notice to the AIFF indicating they should be “more inclusive for the welfare of sport in the country” and made comments in favour of Churchill Brothers rejoining the I-League.
On Tuesday, the AIFF were confident that they would not be pulled up again.
“During the interim period, the honourable judge must have read our response and he started saying it was not within his juridisction to take a call on the matter. This was AIFF’s internal matter but the emotional and sentimental part was also being considered by the Court,” said I-League CEO Sunando Dhar.
According to those present, the Court sought to know if Churchill could still be retained in the league, especially counting upon their contribution to the game.
“The AIFF lawyers said they understood Churchill’s contribution to Indian football but pointed out how there were clubs older than Churchill Brothers who procured a licence, and also missed out,” said one source.
The best option, according to the official, appeared to taking the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), an institution independent of any sports organization which provides for services in order to facilitate the settlement of sports-related disputes through arbitration or mediation by means of procedural rules adapted to the specific needs of the sports world.
Churchill also objected to the points that were allotted to them during the Club Licensing inspections, prompting the Court to seek another reply from the AIFF.