ISL Row: Churchill Brothers Blocked from Entry Despite AIFF Backing

No Indian Super League (ISL) for Churchill Brothers as ISL clubs deny entry to the Goa-based football club. It was a proposal floated by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to include the club in the ongoing season, which started only a couple of weeks ago. 

The major reason cited by the ISL clubs for the rejection of Churchill Brothers was that the league had already started. FC Goa and SC Delhi had already agreed to the inclusion of Churchill Brothers before the AIFF wrote to the remaining 12 ISL clubs.

So close yet so far for Churchill Brothers

Churchill Brothers had finished the I-League as provisional leader after drawing with Real Kashmir on the final matchday. However, before the celebrations could begin for the Goa-based club, the title was taken away from them. Inter Kashi, which had four points taken away, appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and the verdict was in their favour. 

As a result, they won the league and earned a promotion to ISL, with Churchill Brothers missing out. The move for their inclusion in India’s top-flight football came from the non-footballing population. The club is owned by the former Chief Minister of Goa, Churchill Alemao. He has served as a Member of Parliament twice and four times as a Member of the Goa Legislative Assembly. 

How did the ISL clubs respond to AIFF’s proposal?

The move to include Churchill Brothers was called “inconsistent” by the ISL clubs. In their joint statement, the clubs said that their inclusion would be “inconsistent with merit-based participation and undermines competitive integrity.”

With discussions and deliberation already taken place once, the clubs believed there was no point in reopening the matter. The statement from the clubs read, “Given that this issue was previously deliberated upon and aligned in discussions with the AIFF, we are unclear on the basis for reopening the matter.”