The saga of Abinash Ruidas’ I-League contract with East Bengal has taken a fresh turn after Mumbai City FC wrote to the All India Football Federation, stating that the Federation should look into the situation after they had seen several newspaper reports stating that East Bengal had sent a copy of a fresh contract for two years to the AIFF, supposedly signed by Ruidas himself.
East Bengal have claimed that they have an existing contract with the player for another two years while the player insists that he had signed with the Kolkata club only this year. The winger was picked by Mumbai City FC for Rs 18 lakh in the recently concluded Indian Super League draft.
He was called by the Indian Football Association, the West Bengal state unit, for a hearing on Tuesday to sort out the matter. It is learnt that the player could not make it to the hearing due to bad weather conditions in his home town.
In this back drop, Mumbai City FC CEO Indranil Das Blah wrote to AIFF asking them to intervene in the matter.
The letter, the copy of which The Field has accessed, is addressed to AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das and reads, “The Player, who was earlier contracted to Kingfisher East Bengal (“KEB FC”) has represented to us that his contract with his KEB FC has ended as on 31st May 2017. A copy of the said expired contract with KEB FC was provided to us prior to signing of the Player Contract and is attached herein.
“However, it has been brought to our attention today from newspaper reports, that KEB FC has sent to AIFF, a copy of a fresh contract for two further years (2017-2018 and 2018-2019), allegedly signed by the Player. On enquiries with the Player, he has assured us that he has never signed any such document for extension as alleged by the KEB FC.
“In the circumstances, we, Mumbai City FC, would like to refer the matter to the AIFF Player Status Committee for looking into this on urgent basis.”
While the Indian Football Association had earlier claimed that it had the power to resolve this dispute between the player and the club on account of Ruidas being registered with the IFA, AIFF’s constitution does seem to indicate that the Player Status Committee was indeed the responsible party for resolution in this case.
Though the AIFF officials refused to comment on the issue, it is learnt that the apex body could intervene in the matter and conduct a hearing through its Players Status Committee.