AIFF crowns Churchill Brothers I-League champions despite CAS stay order; cites holiday for delay

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) went ahead and crowned Churchill Brothers as the 2024–25 I-League champions on Sunday, just hours after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) issued a stay order prohibiting the medal ceremony.

Churchill Brothers received the trophy at a private event in South Goa, where AIFF Deputy Secretary General M Satyanarayan handed it over to club owner Alemao Churchill.

This happened despite CAS explicitly directing the federation not to organise any medal presentation or announce a winner until Inter Kashi's appeal was resolved.

Earlier in the day, CAS granted Inter Kashi’s request for provisional measures, putting a freeze on the AIFF Appeals Committee’s April 18 decision that had confirmed Churchill Brothers as champions. The Swiss-based court ordered that “the All India Football Federation is not to declare the winner of the I-League 2024-25 or conduct a medal ceremony” until the arbitration is concluded. The respondents — AIFF, Churchill Brothers, and Namdhari FC — were given until April 29 to file their replies.

However, the AIFF defended its move by claiming they had not received CAS’ interim order before the ceremony concluded. “Due to a holiday in the AIFF Secretariat, the federation received the CAS communication only after the ceremony had ended,” the AIFF said in an official statement.

Inter Kashi, however, disputed this claim, saying that CAS' communication was sent to all parties — including AIFF — by 1:30 PM IST, well before the 4 PM ceremony.

The CAS case stems from Inter Kashi’s challenge to the AIFF Appeals Committee rejecting their plea for a match forfeiture by Namdhari FC. Inter Kashi argue that, based on competition rules, they should have been awarded three points from the abandoned match, which would have given them the I-League title over Churchill Brothers.

Meanwhile, Churchill Brothers celebrated the trophy presentation, posting pictures with the I-League silverware and highlighting their third national title on social media.

With CAS setting a deadline for submissions by April 29, the case will now proceed toward a preliminary hearing. A final binding award could take several months unless urgent measures are again requested.