Reports: AIFF are acting on someone else's directions- Gokulam President VC Praveen

The Malabarians were one of the several clubs who boycotted the Super Cup earlier this year.

Gokulam Kerala President VC Praveen has lashed out at the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and their decision to impose a higher fine of ₹27.5 lacs on the I-league clubs for their Super Cup boycott.

Several I-League clubs protested against the AIFF and did not feature in the Super Cup even after registering their teams such as Churchill Brothers, Minerva Punjab, Gokulam Kerala, NEROCA FC, East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Aizawl FC. This step was considered as a revolt against the Indian FA for their step-motherly treatment towards the I-League clubs.

At first, the AIFF Disciplinary Committee imposed a fine of ₹10 lacs on each side and for East Bengal, it was ₹5 lacs. However, it was later informed that the fines were increased to ₹27.5 lacs after the estimation of the losses incurred by the AIFF and its marketing partner.

"The Disciplinary Committee initially fined ₹10 lac. Then they have increased it. It is not AIFF's decision, they are acting on somebody else's directions. It doesn't seem to be in AIFF's control right now. Something's wrong," Praveen told Goal.

The I-League clubs are set to meet with the AIFF officials to decide the fate of the league. It is certain that the India football's apex body is looking to announce the Indian Super League as the brand new top flight football league in the country. However, Praveen made it clear that it is not possible for Gokulam to pay the hefty fine imposed on them.

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"We don't want to pay and we don't have the money for that also. All this could have been avoided. If the tournament wasn't treated as important, we wouldn't have travelled all the way and stayed there for three-four days. Having done that, we were ready to play. From December onwards, we had been requesting for an appointment to meet with the federation, so that they could explain to us the roadmap for the future.

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"We rarely had payment. We are paying players for minimum 8-10 months and we are playing just local state league and I-League. They were not giving us participation fee or subsidies (for Super Cup). We have Super Cup in September and then I-League from October. We have started signing players and are giving them long-term contracts. And now, we have media reports that I-League is not going to be the top-tier league. We have not had an official meeting with the AIFF for six months now," Praveen added.