Chennai: It has been 106 days since the day Chennai City FC became the I-League champion by thrashing Minerva Punjab. However, as per reports, the club is yet to receive its prize money from the All India Football Federation (AIFF). With their I-League title win, Chennai stands to pocket Rs 1 Crore.
"We won the I-League three months ago but are yet to get our prize money. We sent a letter to the AIFF three weeks ago asking them for an update, but have not heard from them yet," Rohit Ramesh, owner of Chennai City, was quoted as saying by a sports website.
AIFF has also not paid fellow I-League clubs such as Minerva Punjab and Gokulam Kerala FC their subsidies of Rs 15 lakh for the season.
It is also notable that, last season's I-League champion, Minerva Punjab FC received its prize money after they threatened the AIFF to boycott the Super Cup.
"We sent them a letter saying that we would pull out of the Super Cup due to a lack of funds. They gave us the prize money within the next three days," Minerva owner Ranjit Bajaj said.
The 2016-17 I-League champion, Aizawl FC, had also wait for close to four months to receive its prize money.