Kolkata giants East Bengal handed transfer ban by the AIFF

Days after conceding the Calcutta Football League title to arch-rivals Mohun Bagan, Kolkata giants East Bengal have now been handed a transfer ban by the player status committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) over the signing of defender Sukhdev Singh from Minerva Punjab.

The Red and Gold brigade would now be unable to make any new signings till the end of the first transfer window, next year.

Sukhdev would also have to shell out Rs 50,000 each to the AIFF and Minerva Punjab and wouldn’t be allowed to play in any competitive match, said an AIFF official who confirmed the development.

Heena Singh, the co-owner of Minerva Punjab who won the coveted I-League title last season, said, “East Bengal approached a couple of Minerva players in April and forced them to hurriedly sign something which they claimed as ‘draft contract’ to show that the players are interested in joining East Bengal. They got the players to agree in that way and did not come to us to settle on a transfer fee.”

“In Sukhdev’s case, they dealt directly with the agent instead of us. The player was on a two-year contract with us and the only way they could approached was through us. They refuted when we tried to get into an agreement and in the meanwhile, an offer from Mohun Bagan was tabled. We discussed it with AIFF and put everything on record before going ahead with Mohun Bagan,” she added further.

Although she felt that Sukhdev is unfortunate to have been fined, this was a reminder for the players, to, ” to take their contract seriously”.

East Bengal CEO Sanjit Sen has said that the club would go follow the legal procedures in the case.

He said, “There is an appeal process in the system. We will discuss internally what needs to be done and will act accordingly.”