There is no dearth of drama in Indian football but it was heightened a notch on Sunday, April 27.
Churchill Brothers FC’s long-awaited celebration of their 2024-25 I-League title reached a crescendo when All India Football Federation Deputy General Secretary M Satyanarayan and Director of AIFF's Competitions Committee Akshay Rohatgi arrived in Goa and handed over the I-League winners' trophy to the Goan club.
But what was to follow was an embarrassment for the AIFF.
While AIFF officials were gladly handing out the trophy to an ecstatic Churchill Brothers FC, the Court of Arbitration for Sport intervention, led by Appeals Arbitration Division Deputy President Elizabeth Steiner, placed a provisional freeze on the AIFF Appeals Committee’s April 18 ruling, ordering that no winner be declared or awarded pending the arbitration’s outcome.
Now AIFF's move to hand the trophy to Churchill Brother, just hours after the CAS order staying the federation’s decision to declare the club as champions, could provoke international scrutiny, including from FIFA.
The CAS directive, issued in response to an appeal by Inter Kashi, explicitly barred the AIFF from conducting any medal ceremony until the arbitration process concludes.
However, AIFF officials maintained ignorance of the CAS order at the time of the presentation ceremony in Goa.
In a statement on their X handle, the AIFF wrote: 'The I-League 2024-25 presentation ceremony was concluded on Sunday, April 27, 2025, in Goa. During the event, the Champions' trophy and the winners' medals were presented to Churchill Brothers FC, as per Appeals Committee order and representation made by AIFF to Honorable Delhi High Court on April 23, 2025.
'The AIFF would like to clarify that, with regard to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) order, due to a holiday in the AIFF Secretariat, the Federation was only informed of the order at a time when the ceremony had already been concluded in Goa. The AIFF remains comitted to adhering to all regulatory and legal processes and will take appropriate action,' the AIFF's statement further read.
Inter Kashi's president Prithiijit Das, told PTI that the CAS order had been issued around 1:30pm IST and was sent directly to the AIFF as well. The trophy presentation took place nearly three hours later.
Following the trophy presentation, CAS reaffirmed that AIFF and Churchill Brothers -- both respondents in the arbitration -- must submit a full reply by April 29. Until a final decision is rendered, the legitimacy of the 2024-25 I-League title remains in limbo.
When asked if this was a premature celebration given CAS order putting the announcement of the winners on hold, Churchill Brothers FC's coach Dimitris Dimitriou told Rediff.com, "I am not dealing with this. I have never made a statement regarding anything. I am here to coach. This is not my job. We have a great management and ownership that can deal with this. I only deal with football."
Speaking to the media on being handed the trophy, he said: "It's a great day for Goan football that today they have the trophy in Goa. I would like to thank Mr Churchill Alemao, it's a privilege to work with this family. I would like to thank my colleagues and Churchill Brothers fans in Goa and in the UK and in Cyprus, my country.
"But without our players we wouldn't be here. And great thank you to the best because my players, my team, my boys were the first on the (I-League) table, they were the first attack and the first defence. So I am the coach of the best," he added.
Taking further questions from Rediff.com, about the factors that got his team to the pinnacle, Dimitriou said: "The great support from the boss (owners) who gave us the freedom to do our jobs, the great chemistry we had with the players, the hard work, the great chemistry that we had with Aditya (Barros Pereira), the general manager of the team and end of the day the hardwork of (club CEO) Valanka Alemao and (club vice president) Savio Alemoa behind the scenes."
Talking of the next season, Dimitrious said, "The management of the club, with the manager of the team Denzi Ferrao, a legend of the club, he helped me a lot this season and I'm going to sit down with him and the boss and we will try to make a competitive team for the ISL next season. A team that will represent Churchill Brothers and Goa at the best level."
HISTORY OF THE CONTROVERSY
There has been a massive controversy and some amount of confusion over the winners of the I-League after Churchill clinched the title with 40 points following a decisive draw against Real Kashmir FC on April 6, 2025, in Srinagar.
But, their title and Indian Super League promotion were subject to the outcome of Inter Kashi's disputed points from their January 13 match against Namdhari SC, which the latter had won 2-0.
The AIFF Disciplinary Committee had awarded a 3-0 forfeit win and three points to Inter Kashi after ruling that Namdhari fielded an 'ineligible player'.
That decision would have taken Inter Kashi to 42 points, enough to clinch the title. However, the AIFF Appeals Committee later put the Disciplinary Committee order "inoperative and in abeyance" pending a final hearing.
After a delayed process, including a postponed April 12 hearing due to Namdhari's counsel citing "sickness", the AIFF's Appeals Committee on April 18 set aside the Disciplinary Committee's order and ruled in favour of Churchill.
But Inter Kashi appealed the final standings to AIFF, whose Appeals Committee then decided in favour of the Goan club and] declared Churchill Brothers as I-League champions.
The I League winner secures an entry into the ISL.
Following this declaration, Inter Kashi approached CAS to hear their case.
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