Kerala Blasters lose appeal at the Court of Arbitration of Sports, to pay Rs 4cr to AIFF
The club from down south will have to pay the fine of Rs 4 crore for their controversial walkout against Bengaluru FC during last season's ISL playoffs.
Kerala Blasters have lost their appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland against the Rs. 4 crore fine levied by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) against them instead of their walkout and abandonment of the playoffs match against Bengaluru FC during Indian Super League 2022-23.
The club will have to pay the fine within the next two weeks and must also cover the legal costs for AIFF in fighting this case.
The incident in light was a quick freekick that was allowed to be taken by on-field referee Crystal John which Bengaluru's Sunil Chetri scored off. KBFC argued that their defenders weren't ready and that the freekick shouldn't have been allowed to be taken quickly after the spot was marked.
Head coach Ivan Vukomanovic led the walkout and was subsequently hit with a 10-match ban and the club was fined Rs.4 crore by the AIFF Disciplinary Committee.
KBFC appealed to the appeals committee, but they overruled the appeal stating the fine was an "appropriate penalty" for the forfeit. Now they have also lost the CAS appeal.
This was only the second ever professional football match that has been abandoned, the other incident occurring in 2012 during a match between East Bengal FC and Mohun Bagan.