Report: East Bengal players send notice to Quess for non-payment of dues

The activation of the ‘force majeure’ clause by Quess Corp Ltd seems to be having some dire consequences now.

Several East Bengal footballers have sent notices to the club’s former investor Quess Corp Ltd to pay the players their due salaries for the months of April and May, 2020. Spanish forward Jaime Santos is amongst these players too. Infact, he is the only foreign recruit of the club to have a multiple-year contract.

Abhishek Ambekar and Pintu Mahata also have such deals lasting for more than a solitary year and were against the investor’s decision to activate the ‘force majeure’ clause and terminate their association with East Bengal amidst the coronavirus crisis. Santos is said to have sent a notice to Quess through the Spanish players’ association.

An official from the Football Players’ Association of India commented on the issue to IANS. Under the cloak of anonymity, the official stated, “The Indian players with one-year or multi-year contracts have sent Quess notices asking them to pay their two-month salary (April and May) through us.”

The officer continued, “The players with multi-year contracts would have the right to terminate the contract and claim compensation from the club if Quess East Bengal do not pay the salaries.” The same report makes the claim that Quess have demanded the respective players to sign and give their consent to the Mutual Termination Agreement in order to receive their pending salaries.

However, the FPAI counters that by reminding the former investors of East Bengal that their call to impose the ‘force majeure’ clause was unilateral and perhaps incommunicado. Hence, they are baffled by this talk of the mutual termination of the agreement.

Here is when FIFA’s guidelines on such issues come into consideration. Footballers are well within their rights to terminate their contracts if their club fails to pay them two monthly salaries on the due dates. Pro-rata value corresponding to the two months’ payments, i.e. salaries being given proportionally for those couple of months should also be considered. The rules deem the player to be a free agent in this scenario and hence the footballer could be employed by another club too.

The official further put forth his views about this issue. He observed, “In their (Quess) reply, they have also given the example of the league in Egypt being cancelled due to the 2013 civil war and therefore force majeure being applied. That’s absurd. COVID-19 situation is not like a civil war. It is a global pandemic and all essentials services have been open throughout, including banks.”

The Indian players have opted to wait until the end of the ongoing month to attain their remuneration. Otherwise, they would take the matter to the Player Status Committee of the All India Football Federation. Apparently, the footballers can approach the PSC even now, as Quess have given their reply on the subject.

However, they have been advised by the FPAI to wait for 14 days post sending their notices. “After that, they will approach the Player Status Committee,” the FPAI official was quoted as mentioning. The summer has certainly been a curious one for East Bengal, and it could be assumed that there are more consequences to follow with regards to Quess’ major decision to part ways with the Red and Gold.

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