ISL: Kerala Blasters ask foreign stars to take pay cuts?

Several shocking revelations have come forth as the club is undergoing certain financial problems.

Khel Now understands through a source that Kerala Blasters are close to imposing pay cuts for all three of their foreign stars - Tiri, Bartholomew Ogbeche and Sergio Cidoncha.

Tiri, who plied his trade for Jamshedpur FC in the recently concluded ISL campaign, had already made a contractual agreement with the Yellow Army for three seasons. But, a source close to the player has indicated that the move could fall through if the club persist with their pay cut demands.

"If Kerala Blasters respect the conditions already agreed upon (with Tiri), he will play for the club. Otherwise, it is difficult for him to play there," the source said, before hinting that the two-time ISL runners-up are undergoing many financial problems.

"The club is in financial trouble and wants to cut wages by a significant percentage. They want a wage reduction by 30%-40% of what was originally agreed to in the contract," he added.

We have also learnt that while Ogbeche and Cidoncha have also been asked to take a wage cut along with Tiri, due to the COVID-19 situation. Interestingly, no Indian player has been asked to do so yet.

Meanwhile, the Kochi-based club had welcomed changes in their management a few months ago, with Karolis Skinkys getting appointed as the new sporting director. However, the source has suggested that since the beginning of his tenure, Skinkys is not very happy with the wage structure at the club.

We tried to reach the Blasters' management for comment on the matter, however could not retrieve any at the time of writing. Yet, on the other hand, a source close to the developments has told Khel Now that the club is very unhappy with Tiri's amateurish way of handling the situation, by taking this information to the fans on social media.

Having finished at a lowly seventh spot in the league table with just four wins from 18 matches, Kerala Blasters failed to make it to the playoffs for the third season in a row. Later, in April, Eelco Schattorie too was sacked as the head coach and Mohun Bagan's I-League winning coach Kibu Vicuna was named as his replacement. Now, it remains to be seen how the outfit looks forward to the upcoming campaign, especially after the ongoing fiasco.