NEW DELHI: Ranjit Bajaj, the owner of I-League champions Minerva Punjab FC, has been found guilty of making racist remarks against a referee during a junior league match last Saturday and handed a one-year ban, effective immediately and fined Rs 1 million.
The fine must be paid by Bajaj within 10 days from the date of the communication of the penalty, which was decided on Sunday.
The All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) disciplinary committee said Monday that Bajaj made racial remarks and hurled abuses at referee Pynskhemhame Mawthoh during Minerva’s Under-18 Youth League play-off match against Aizwal FC in Shillong on May 12. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.
The Tribune, quoting AIFF sources, reports that an angry Bajaj made remarks to the effect that the referee from the Northeast could not see properly — ‘dikhai nahin deta’. Bajaj is also accused of referring to the referee using the racist term “Chinky”.
The disciplinary committee, chaired by Ushanath Banerjee, said in its report that this was the fourth offence committed by Bajaj in a span of one year. “The committee holds Bajaj guilty of committing serious acts of infringements and imposes, with sanctions, a suspension of 12 months,” the disciplinary committee said in its 11-page report.
According to a source in AIFF, several of Bajaj’s indiscretions and offences were discussed, and note was also taken of Minerva FC unilaterally banning a reporter of The Tribune.
No stadium entry
AIFF said that during his one-year suspension, Bajaj will be banned from participating in all football-related activities. This means that he would not be allowed to enter the stadium during any tournament held by AIFF.
If Bajaj does not pay the fine, the ban would continue until he pays up. “Failing which the suspension and the ban shall continue for the period over and above 12 months, till payment (is made) in full,” the disciplinary committee said.
“Bajaj acted like a criminal indulging in a series of hooliganism, abusing the match officials in filthy languages, threatening them openly, making racist remarks against the match officials. Certainly, none of these can be equated with an educated guardian of a sports club,” match commissioner Biswajit Mitra said in the report.
Minerva says Bajaj being framed
“We are totally in shock. There was no hearing, just a show-cause notice was sent. He has been framed and this is an effort to malign us,” Minerva director Heena Bajaj, wife of Ranjit Bajaj, told The tribune. “All this racist comment is nonsense. No procedure was followed. We were given three hours to reply. We were given this notice around 12 in the afternoon yesterday (Sunday). We were told to reply by 7 pm,” she said. “How can the disciplinary committee meet between 7-11 pm on a Sunday evening and decide? This is all too wrong and just an effort to stop us from winning our fourth title,” she said.
In a press statement issued late on Monday evening, Minerva Punjab FC dismissed the report filed by the match commissioner. “Bajaj had questioned the match commissioner before the match regarding the management and security of the venues as a theft of Rs 1 lakh had taken place in one of the dressing rooms the previous day. This irked the match commissioner and led to his false reports,” read the statement.
Serial offender
Bajaj is seen as a serial offender by the AIFF. He was handed an eight-match suspension and a fine of Rs 700,000 during the 2016-17 I-League season after AIFF’s disciplinary committee found him guilty of “committing repetitive serious infringements under Articles 58 — with Articles 41 & 50 — of the AIFF Disciplinary Code”.
Bajaj was again in the news when he hurled abuses at an official during the 15th Administrator’s Challenge Cup All-India Football Tournament (U-17) at the Sector 7 Sports Complex in Chandigarh. After the incident, he was asked to leave the team’s dugout and sit in the stands. As per the match commissioner’s report: “Owner of the Minerva Football Academy was creating ruckus and used abusive language (during the match).”
The UT Sports Department, though, let him off with a warning after receiving a written apology from him.
AIFF statement in full:
During match No. 4 of the U-18 Youth League 2017-18, in the Group A playoff between Aizawl FC and Minerva Punjab Football Club played on May 12, 2018 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Shillong, a senior official of Minerva Punjab Football Club was reported by the Match Commissioner to have passed derogatory racial comments against the referee and other match officials officiating in that match. Accordingly, based on the report of the match commissioner, the referee and the fourth official, the matter was immediately referred to the Disciplinary Committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), which examined the case and passed an order on May 13,2018 in the matter, the operative part of which, is provided below:
The AIFF Disciplinary Committee after examining the evidences placed on record before it, found the concerned senior official of Minerva Punjab Football Club, guilty of committing serious gross acts of infringements and imposed a sanction of suspension for a period of twelve months under Article 58, read with Articles 41, 50, 54, 59.1(a) and 60 of the AIFF Disciplinary Code, upon the said official and further banned the official under Article 23 of the AIFF Disciplinary Code with regards to any tournaments held, organised by or under the aegis of AIFF, during the period of suspension.
In addition, the Committee also inflicted a fine of Rupees Ten Lakhs upon the concerned official, citing the provisions of Articles 54, 58 & 59.1(a) read with Article 78(d) & 50.2 of the Code, which the guilty official is required to pay within a period of 10 (ten) days from the date of communication of the Committee’s decision.
The AIFF Disciplinary Committee while arriving at its above decision also took into consideration the multiple previous instances of repetitive gross indisciplinary acts and misconduct committed by the concerned senior official of Minerva Punjab Football Club in the past. The Committee, in its decision categorically stressed upon the seriousness and rising degree of the continued infringements and culpabilities of the guilty official including the giving of severe threats to the match officials as well as using clear racist remarks against them.
