Abranches, Pradeep to get show cause notice from AIFF

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has taken strong exception to the outbursts by Dempo's striker Joaquim Abranches and Viva Kerala's midfielder N P Pradeep against the national body.

The two who have spoken in support of ousted coach Bob Houghton may not be as fortunate as Sunil Chhetri who escaped with a warning for his utterances against the AIFF, who have now drafted a show-cause notice which will be served on the players today, according to AIFF sources.

"The players have rubbed AIFF the wrong way with their comments. Abranches spoke to a newspaper in Pune and criticised the AIFF, while Pradeep made derogatory comments against the federation on a social networking site," a source within the federation said.

Abranches, Dempo Sports Club's star midfielder, is away in Uzbekistan with his team's crucial AFC Cup clash against FC Nasaf but will have a lot of explaining to do when he returns.

Viva Kerala midfielder Pradeep, on the other hand, has invited the ire of the federation bosses after he made derogatory comments on his Facebook page.

He has since deleted the comments from his page, but the federation had already taken notice of the "offensive" comments.

"We were surprised by Pradeep's audacity. His comments are unprintable," the source added.

The AIFF had earlier reprimanded Sunil Chhetri for "unnecessary comments relating to AIFF's functioning and on the issue of coach Bob Houghton".

The matter will be discussed at the next executive committee meeting of the AIFF and action will be taken, if necessary.

The AIFF is also in the process of implementing a Code of Conduct for the players.