Australian footballer Tolgay Ozbey has been fined Rs.5 lakh by the Indian Football Association which held him guilty of not adhering to the norms of transfer while seeking to move over to a new club.
The player, who had played the previous two seasons with East Bengal, opted to turn out for Mohun Bagan in the new season. Once he made public his decision of moving on to Mohun Bagan almost immediately after the conclusion of the I-League and the Calcutta Football League midway in May, East Bengal claimed that the player had committed to stay back with it and also took an advance amount to confirm his allegiance.
The IFA players-status committee, which met several times to review the documents submitted by the player and East Bengal, decided on Monday to uphold the claim of the club. It found Ozbey guilty of not conforming to the rules governing the inter-club transfer in the state and asked the player to pay Rs.11 lakh — equivalent to a month’s salary — to East Bengal, apart from the fine of Rs.5 lakh.
The player was also asked to seek an apology in writing from his previous club.
The state body has requested East Bengal to return the “token” (the unique identification tag of the player required to ensure a transfer) in its possession after receiving the letter of apology and the specified Rs.11 lakh from the player.
The player and club have been given 72 hours to time to respond to the player-status committee’s decision, it was informed.
