Deepak Mondal raised the compensation issue with AIFF

New Delhi: A recurrent knee injury has kept dependable defender Deepak Mondal out of the Vancouver-bound Indian squad, yet his ability to speak his mind has done Indian football a world of good at the national football camp in Goa recently.

For the first time in history, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has taken a decision to provide adequate financial compensation to a footballer if he gets injured and remains sidelined for a considerable period while playing for the Indian team. This decision was taken only after Deepak Mondal raised this issue with the AIFF officials in Goa.

Speaking to The Telegraph, AIFF general secretary Alberto Colaco confirmed the federation will now try to match the financial loss a footballer suffers from injury while rendering his services for the national squad.

“We may look into his contract with the club he is attached with and try to compensate accordingly,” he said. “At it is, we look after the medical expenses of an injured player. Now we are introducing a new system.

“Suppose a footballer gets injured while playing for India and that forces him to sit out for a certain period of time during the season. During this period, if his club does not pay him his salary, then we may take care of it.”

This introduction of payment system is something that has never happened in Indian football before. Several footballers including top names like Tausif Jamal and Jo Paul Ancheri in recent past had picked up injuries while on national duty but never received adequate compensation.

Jamal fractured his leg in the 1995 SAFF meet, but the AIFF washed its hands-off with a one-time payment of Rs 30,000. Ancheri injured his left knee a year earlier, but did not receive any financial help from the federation. His club, JCT, which he joined in 1996, helped him a bit, but the injury ultimately shortened his career.

This time, too, it has not come without seasoned Mondal raising this topic. According to Indian team sources, he wanted this issue to be discussed and even informed the team management.

Having come to know that some of the other senior players are also backing Mondal, AIFF president Priya Ranjan Das Munshi asked Colaco and team manager Pradeep Chowdhury to have a dialogue with the footballer in this regard.

Mondal is believed to have told the federation officials that East Bengal Club once denied him his salary for quite a few months after he got injured in an international match and was therefore forced to sit out.

Colaco said that there can be some changes in the structure of payment for the national team footballers. The executive committee of the AIFF, which meets in the capital on July 29, may take a decision on this.