Panaji: Tata Steel on Friday approved the transfer of its entire 100% stake in Jamshedpur Football and Sporting Private Limited (JFSPL), the company that owns Jamshedpur FC, to Churchill Brothers Sports Club for a nominal consideration of ₹100.The sporting license that allowed Jamshedpur to compete in the top tier Indian Super League (ISL) since 2017 has also been transferred to Churchill Brothers, a two-time national league winning club, owned by former Goa chief minister Churchill Alemao.Tata Steel holds 4.08 crore shares in JFSPL. The company has signed a Share Purchase Agreement with Churchill and all necessary documents have been sent to the All India Football Federation (AIFF), paving the way for the Goan side to now take part in the ISL for the first time.“Our legal team is vetting the documents,” AIFF deputy secretary general M Satyanarayan told TOI. “We expect Churchill’s entry into the ISL to be smooth since the club has agreed to fulfil all requirements and made the payment in full.”Participating clubs should agree to be part of the special purpose vehicle (SPV) that is in the process of being formed to run the league, and pay an annual fee of Rs 1.1 crore, the deadline for which ended on Friday.According to the agreement, Churchill will absorb 12 contracted players, besides two coaches, which includes the experienced ISL-winning coach Owen Coyle, who has previously coached in the Premier League in England.“Churchill Brothers is a club with real history in Indian football, and we are glad that this agreement gives our players and coaches the opportunity to continue playing club football,” said DB Sundara Ramam, vice president (corporate services), Tata Steel. “Tata Steel will continue to focus on football at the grassroots and youth level, given our legacy of identifying and nurturing young talent, especially among local and tribal communities.”Established in 1989 following the closure of Goa’s top division football team, MRF, Churchill have been among the powerhouses of Indian football, winning every conceivable trophy, besides the I-League twice. The club has also competed in the Asian Club Championships and AFC Cup, the second tier of Asian club football competitions.“We deserve to be playing in ISL,” Alemao told TOI after the agreement was signed. “We should have been playing last season itself but were unfairly kept out, despite winning the I-League fairly on the ground. Now, we are where we belong: right at the top.”Churchill believe they should have been competing in last season’s ISL, given that I-League champions automatically gain promotion to the top tier. Churchill had finished on top at the end of the league and were provisionally declared champions. However, second-placed Inter Kashi FC contested two AIFF appeals committee decisions and won the cases at the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).“It’s been a long wait, but I am delighted that we have made it,” said Alemao, while crediting his daughter and CEO Valanka Alemao, son Savio Alemao and his grandson, Aditya Barros Perreira, general manager at the club.
