Vijayan fined, allowed time to appeal

Ace striker I M Vijayan has been fined Rs 50,000 by the All India Football Federation disciplinary committee for representing F C Kochin "without getting an international transfer certificate".

The disciplinary committee, however, unanimously decided to allow Vijayan to appeal against the penalty within 15 days, and also allowed him to continue playing for F C Kochin, Kerala and the national team.

The disciplinary committee, which met under the chairmanship of H Jadeja, heard Vijayan, F C Kochin president P V Paul and Kerala Football Association secretary G Sugunan before deciding on the fine.

The trio were summoned by the committee following Calcutta club Tollygunj Aggragami's complaint that the ace striker played for F C Kochin without obtaining an international transfer certificate. The Kerala player was contracted with Mukti Jodda of Bangladesh before joining F C Kochin.

The meeting, held at the Sports Authority of India Southern Centre, was attended by l R Natarajan (Tamil Nadu), Rakesh Bakshi (Chandigarh) and M Mohanraj (Karnataka).