Indian Super League: Zico 'Disgusted' by Fine, Ban on FC Goa Owners

FC Goa's Brazilian manager, Zico on Friday said he felt "disgust" at Indian Super League Regulatory Commission's decision to levy hefty fine on FC Goa and ban the club's owners on disciplinary grounds.

The ISL organising committee is in the process of studying the order pronounced by its five member eminent and independent regulatory commission headed by Hon'ble Mr Justice D A Mehta.

On Thursday, the ISL handed a fine of Rs 11 crore to FC Goa and banned the owners of the football club -- Dattaraj Salgaocar (for three years) and Srinivas Dempo (for two years).

"I have no words! I feel disgust for the order taken by the committee. How can ISL put such heavy fine of Rs 11 crore (around USD 1.6 million) (and) put bans of 2-3 years on owners and docking of 15 points for FC Goa," the Brazilian great said in a statement.

"We were there. Coach Moraci Santana and Bruno Silva saw Elano assaulting Mr Raj Salgaocar in our dugout. That video is clearly cooked! Anyone with sense can see there is a cut before the assault on the owner, and surely all the reaction that came from our team members was not without motive."

FC Goa were facing allegations of violating ISL regulations namely for 'boycotting match and league ceremony', 'public criticism and threatening match officials,' 'alleging that the match were fixed,' and 'non-adherence of League rules'. FC Goa will also be docked 15 points next season.

ISL regulatory commission's decision came after NDTV accessed exclusive footage that showed Brazilian football star and Chennaiyin FC player Elano Blumer do nothing that merited an arrest by the Goa police after the ISL-2 final in Goa last December.

Elano in the eye of storm

Elano was arrested following the final on December 20 which led to a massive controversy with the Brazilian football star being accused of assaulting FC Goa co-owner and industrialist Dattaraj Salgaocar.

The unedited footage showed that Elano did not attack or get physical with anybody and that he was taken into police custody only on the behest of FC Goa owners.

However, Zico called the video "inconclusive" and instead pointed at Stiven Mendoza's goal for Chennaiyin FC that put the match on level terms before Mendoza scored the winner in added time.

Controversial goal

Chennaiyin's second goal -- the equaliser -- saw Mendoza beat FC Goa goalkeeper, Laxmikant Kattimani, to a cross, however, replays showed that the ball came off the Colombian's outstretched hands.

"Interestingly, I could notice that in no time you can hear about the second goal of Mendoza that was scored by hand. It was one of the main things that extolled the spirits of those who was in the field as well on the stands.

"They deal with it as nothing really had happened, the video of this goal went viral but they speak that was not conclusive, but an edited video like this one brought a such harsh verdict like this to the club," wrote Zico.

FC Goa Owners Unhappy

Meanwhile, FC Goa co-owners Dempo and Salgaocar in a joint statement said they were shocked by the verdict and were considering all options before them.

"We are surprised and shocked with the order as ISL was to decide on the application of jurisdiction and not to proceed on the hearing as AIFF, which is the supreme body, directed to maintain status quo on March 31. We are studying the order and considering all options before us."

"This brings bad publicity to Indian football"

Indian football great Bhaichung Bhutia added that the FC Goa-Elano controversy only brings bad name to the game in the country.

"The Rs.11 crore fine for FC Goa and docking them 15 points is very severe. The bad behaviour towards Elano from FC Goa (after the 2015 ISL final) was not required. However, I would love to see Elano come back and play in the ISL. Whatever happened was unfortunate," Bhaichung Bhutia told NDTV.

"People of Goa love FC Goa but even they don't support what their team did to Elano after the ISL final. ISL teams need to keep people with good technical knowledge of the game within their camp so that these issues don't happen again," concluded the former India skipper.