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All the 23 players of leading Goan football club Churchill Brothers flying on a SpiceJet plane from Goa to Kolkata on Tuesday were offloaded at Mumbai airport after three of them allegedly misbehaved with an airhostess and some cabin crew members.
Three players have been detained by police, an official said, amid unconfirmed reports that overseas footballers possibly from Nigeria, may be among them. The team was on its way to take part in a tournament in Kolkata.
"Some passengers misbehaved with and abused our crew on board flight SG 804. Our pilot took a decision to offload them in Mumbai during the scheduled transit halt," a SpiceJet spokesperson informed.
There was no immediate confirmation whether the three players were booked for any charges.
The private air carrier did not reveal the identity of the passengers but the Churchill management said they were members of its football club.
The pilot decided to deplane the misbehaving passengers in the interest of saftey of fellow travellers, the spokesperson said, adding the matter is under investigation by the concerned authorities.
In Panaji, the Churchill Brothers Team management defended its players and said it was contemplating the possibility of filing defamation case against SpiceJet for allegedly harassing its players.
"Is there a bedroom in the plane? It was not molestation. One of my player's hand touched a girl(air hostess) by mistake and he apologized. The crew members later created a ruckus and there was an argument," Joaquim Alemao, president, Churchill Bros said.
According to reports, the girl was a member of the flight crew.
Alemao said that although the accusations was against three players, his entire team of 23 was downloaded at Mumbai airport.
"Was everyone involved in the molestation? Why was everyone downloaded? This is harassment and I will file defamation case against SpiceJet management," Alemao, who is the state Urban Development Minister, said.
Churchill Brothers is the country's only family owned national championship winner football club, which is based in Goa.
Alemao said that due to this incident, they have missed a practice day. "We are looking ahead for a big match with Mohun Bagan. I can't waste even a day," he said.
He said that there was no need to dump the entire team on the airport even if there is a case against three players.
Alemao who spoke to his team manager after the incident said that one of the players touched a girl by mistake, who was walking in the plane from the rear end.
"The player apologized and girl also accepted his apologies, but sometimes later one of the crew member began fighting with the player which triggered arguments," he said.
Alemao alleged that his players were harassed by airlines staff for no reason and he will not let the insult be forgiven and will fight the battle legally.