Explained: What went wrong between Mohammedan SC & Yan Law

After their 4-1 win against ARA FC in the I-League Qualifiers, the club sacked the former Punjab FC head coach.

On Sunday, just three days after the start of the I-League Qualifiers, Kolkata-based outfit Mohammedan SC and their head coach Yan Law parted ways. While both parties published contradictory statements regarding the issue, Khel Now has learned that it was the club who sacked the 27-year-old from his position as head coach.

"Yan Law was sacked by Mohammedan SC following their match against ARA FC," a source close to the developments informed Khel Now. "The decision to sack him was taken even before Law himself made up his mind to resign and leave the club. The management were not happy with his decision-making. He brought a few players from Punjab FC (formerly Minerva Punjab) and having worked with them for a considerably good length of time, he preferred them over the other names in the squad."

In addition, the source also revealed an interesting fact about how different officials played a role in the signing of certain players at the club. He explained how these players came together to protest against the coach, as they weren't getting chance in the first-team. "There are officials at the club who have individually brought in some players. These 'quota' players came together and began protesting against the coach about how he deliberately wasn't selecting them."

"Prior to the I-League Qualifiers, the team had played a few practice matches against local teams and also conceded a good number of goals. Despite this, Law was unwilling to change his tactics or playing style and in the first qualifying game (against Garhwal FC last Thursday), he persisted with his choices and the team barely managed to win. That turned out to be one of the primary reasons why they decided to let go of him," the source added.

ALSO READ: Mohammedan SC part ways with head coach Yan Law

Khel Now has also learnt that in a separate incident, Law had emailed the club asking him to be relieved of his duties. In the e-mail, the former Punjab FC coach wrote that he was resigning from the role of the head coach at Mohammedan SC, after the off-field situations threatened to "spoil his personal relations" with the club. The e-mail also revealed that both his wages from August 26th onward and some expenses related to the pre-season training camp at Kalyani were yet to be cleared. Law has requested clarification on that as well.

Our source also dismissed the match-fixing allegations against former Minerva owner Ranjit Bajaj, which had circulated across mainstream media earlier on Sunday. "Bajaj's team is not participating in the I-League Qualifiers, it is hence very unlikely that he will try to influence Mohammedan's results in the competition," he said. "Wasim Akram's (the club's General Secretary) statement to the press also has some fundamental issues. If they want to decide who should play and who shouldn't, they shouldn't have hired a coach to call the shots. Yan Law is an AFC 'A' License holder, he obviously knows his job."

Mohammedan are at the top of the I-League Qualifiers table right now, with two wins and six points. After beating Garhwal with an injury-time long-ranger from Munmun Lugun, the Black Panthers beat ARA FC 4-1 in their second game earlier on Sunday.