Click to play videoMumbai: Three football players of Goa's Churchill Brothers team have been accused of molesting a SpiceJet airhostess while flying to Kolkata late on Tuesday night.
The crew onboard flight SG 804 from Goa to Kolkata via Mumbai lodged a complaint late on Tuesday evening accusing the football players of misbehaviour with an airhostess.
The players Odafa Okolie, Arindam Bhattacharya and Kalu Nnanna were offloaded at the Mumbai airport and later booked under sections of the IPC on charges of outraging a woman's modesty.
But a defiant team management claimed the allegations were false.
"She's (the airhostess) is lying. I trust the players. It is the word of the girl against the word of the players," Churchill Brothers coach Carlos Pereira said.
"All my players are innocent. I stand by them. How can one molest someone in a flight full of people? I will file a defamation case against SpiceJet. They should not have offloaded my whole team. The match in Kolkata will not be possible if they continue holding up my players," said club owner Churchill Alemao
With both sides making allegations and the team management defending its players, the police have lodged an FIR in the case.
Churchill Brothers are slated to play a match in Kolkata on Thursday. So the timing of the legal tangle is something the team can ill-afford.
But luck also seems to be on the club's side.
After a medical check-up, the three players were released on bail and will each have to furnish a surety of Rs 5,000 in court later on Wednesday.
Yet for the team, the embarrassment of the off-field controversy will not be easy to shake-off.
SpiceJet has also issued a statement on the alleged molestation case
"Some passengers misbehaved with and abused our crew on board flight SG804 from Goa to Kolkata via Mumbai. In the interest of the safety of the other passengers, our pilot took a decision to offload them in Mumbai during the scheduled transit halt. The matter is under investigation with the concerned authorities," the statement said.
Meanwhile, Churchill Brothers will be hoping that Odafa, Bhattacharya and Kalu come out of the legal mess soon.
Odafa is the highest paid player in the Indian football circuit and was judged the most valuable player in India's premier tournament I-League
He was also the highest goal scorer in the I-League. Bhattacharya was judged the best goal keeper in the I-League and is also one of the top three goalkeepers of India.
Kalu is one of the main midfielders of the Churchill team and one of the Nigerian recruits of the club.
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