Inter Kashi players threaten to boycott ISL ties over unpaid wages

Kolkata: Last season's I-League winners, Inter Kashi players have threatened to "boycott" their final two matches of the ongoing Indian Super League, citing unpaid salaries and plunging the Varanasi-based club's debut season in the top league into a full-blown crisis.The players' apparent revolt has come close on the heels of veteran Spanish head coach Antonio Lopez Habas' decision to leave his post before the team's last match against Mohun Bagan SG here on Tuesday. Inter Kashi — currently placed 10th on the standings with 12 points from 11 matches — are scheduled to wind up their campaign with a game at SC Delhi in the Capital city this Sunday before facing East Bengal here four days later. "Of the past four months, we have received only one-month's salary. Even payment for members of the staff is due. If the club doesn't resolve the issue immediately and clear our pending dues, we're not going to play the last two matches of the season," an Inter Kashi player seeking anonymity told TOI on Thursday. "If the club management doesn't address our financial issues and make payment before Saturday, we're not going to travel to New Delhi and will also boycott the final match (against East Bengal)," the player added. After holding defending champions Mohun Bagan to a goalless draw against the odds, Inter Kashi players, including their foreign contingent, are currently training in Goa. Right at the outset of the delayed start to an abridged ISL, Inter Kashi have found themselves embroiled in a web of financial, administrative and legal challenges. With their own stadium still under construction in Varanasi, they were forced to host their ISL matches at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata in their debut season. However, it's the continuous court battle with Churchill Brothers which seems to have put the new entrants in a tight corner more than anything else. The AIFF had initially declared Churchill Brothers the I-League champions, but following a disciplinary hearing and backed by a favourable ruling from the CAS, Inter Kashi got the eventual entry to the ISL. The ball of the acrimonious legal battle between the two clubs has now been lobbed into the Delhi HC. An Inter Kashi-like storm is also brewing at Mohammedan SC — who will host Mumbai City FC on Friday. Mehrajuddin Wadoo's last-placed side is facing relegation after managing just 3 points from 11 matches. A few days ago, players boycotted training over unpaid wages, prompting the club management to persuade them to play with the assurance of a partial payment. Mohammedan SC have been forced to play this ISL with all-Indian squad after being slapped with a Fifa transfer ban over non-payment of player dues.