The Goan Network
Panaji
Former champions Churchill Bros, who have been reinstated in the I-League after a gap of two years, open their 2017 campaign with an away game against Mohun Bagan at Rabindra Sarobar Stadium, Kolkata on January 8. They next host Mumbai FC at Tilak Maidan, Vasco on January 15.
The decision to bring back the Red Machines into the I-League fold was taken at an emergency committee meeting of the AIFF on December 8 wherein all the members unanimously agreed on the issue to allow the Goan club a slot in the premier competition.
"The meeting was called in compliance with the order passed by the Delhi High Court on November 28, 2016, wherein the court directed AIFF to consider the representation of Churchill Brothers SC dated November 23, 2016," the AIFF had said in a statement.
The members of the committee discussed the directives of the Delhi HC in detail. For the record, the Goan club was dropped from the I-League after it failed to fulfil the mandatory club licensing criteria in 2014.
