New Delhi: The AIFF’s inability to tackle indiscipline came to the fore again on Thursday when Churchill Brothers escaped with a fine of Rs. 50,000 for abusing and threatening match officials after the I-League match against Dempo last Wednesday.

Club director, Churchill Alemao, who watched the 3-3 draw in Margao, rushed inside the referees’ room after the match and abused match officials and threatened them.

According to reports submitted by Fifa referee Dinesh Nair and the match commissioner J.P. Singh, Churchill snatched papers from Singh’s hands.

According to AIFF sources, the disciplinary committee of the federation, which held a marathon meeting on Wednesday evening, decided to let Alemao off with just the fine. The Goa club has till November 20 to appeal against the verdict.

This was despite the fact that both Singh and Nair wrote strong reports against Churchill. So much so that Nair even asked the AIFF not to consider him in matches involving Churchill Brothers.

Explaining the disciplinary committee’s stand, an AIFF official said: “Since Mr. Churchill is not registered with the club in the I-League, the committee could only fine the club.”

The official confirmed that Churchill had also written a letter to the AIFF threatening to pull out of the ongoing I-League.