Explained: Why Anwar Ali has been banned by AIFF and if India defender can file an appeal

Indian football team defender Anwar Ali was on Tuesday given a four-month ban by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), just three days before the start of the 2024-25 Indian Super League (ISL) season. Anwar had terminated his Mohun Bagan Super Giant contract , which was a four-year loan deal, and made a permanent switch to rivals East Bengal FC without any justification.

As a result, East Bengal and Delhi FC, which is Anwar’s parent club, have been handed a transfer ban for two transfer windows, and in addition to that, Anwar, East Bengal and Delhi FC have been directed to pay a compensation of Rs 12.90 crore to Mohun Bagan.

The AIFF Players’ Status Committee had in August discovered that Anwar’s Mohun Bagan contract had been terminated “without a just clause”, with Mohun Bagan terming it as an illegal move.

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Will Anwar be able to appeal his four-month ban? When can he resume playing? We explain:

Yes. Anwar Ali can appeal the ban with the AIFF Appeal Committee, as per Article 51 of the AIFF constitution. The AIFF Appeal Committee is the body that hears the verdicts of the AIFF Players’ Committee that concerns with players’ eligibility. Anwar has three days time to submit the appeal to the Appeal Committee in writing. Point four of Article 51 says that the “decisions pronounced by the Appeal Committee shall be final and binding on all parties.”
Should the appeal committee withhold the decision of the ban, the player, Anwar Ali in this case, can register an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) that is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland.

However, even if his ban is lifted, the 24 year-old can only resume playing football once his four-month period ends, and also once the fine of Rs 12.90 crore is paid to Mohun Bagan entirely. At the same time, Anwar will not be eligible to represent India until the end of the matter.

Previous similar instance

Pune City FC, which is now defunct, had been handed a transfer ban for two transfer windows in 2019. This was after Spanish midfielder Nestor Gordillo had signed a “pre-contract” with Pune City at a time when he had a year remaining in his contract with Chennai City FC, which is also currently defunct.

Apart from the transfer window ban, the AIFF imposed a Rs 5 lakh fine on Pune City as well as a four-month ban from playing for Nestor.

Nestor then filed an appeal with the AIFF Appeal Committee, but the committee eventually ruled against the Spaniard.