Mohun Bagan Super Giant (MBSG) have escalated their long-running dispute over defender Anwar Ali’s transfer by filing an appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), expressing a clear loss of confidence in the All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) adjudicatory process.
The decision comes after the matter remained unresolved for over 18 months within AIFF’s judicial framework, despite repeated hearings, adjournments and committee reshuffles. The Indian Super League (ISL) champions have now sought direct intervention from the Lausanne-based international tribunal, citing procedural lapses and indefinite delays at the domestic level.
According to the letter shared with RevSportz, Mohun Bagan’s appeal challenges the AIFF Appeals Committee order dated December 20, 2025, which was formally communicated to the club on December 26. That decision had sent the case back to the AIFF Players’ Status Committee (PSC) for fresh adjudication, without offering any final resolution.
In their submission to CAS, Mohun Bagan have raised serious concerns over the manner in which the Appeals Committee decision was issued. The club has pointed out that while the order claims concurrence from multiple committee members, one member’s approval was conveyed only after the decision had already been circulated to the parties, while there was no recorded concurrence from another member at the time of issuance.
The club has also questioned the timing of the order, noting that it was dated the same day the Appeals Committee was reconstituted, and signed only by the outgoing chairperson, whose tenure ended on December 20. Mohun Bagan have argued that the minimum quorum required for a valid decision was not demonstrably met and that established procedures – where decisions are routed through the AIFF secretariat – were not followed.
“It appeared that the decision was hurriedly issued, especially given the circumstances surrounding the committee’s reconstitution,” the club stated in its appeal, also alleging bias in favour of Delhi FC, the player’s former parent club.
The dispute traces back to July 2024, when Anwar Ali unilaterally terminated his contract with Mohun Bagan to join East Bengal on a multi-year deal. In September 2024, the AIFF Players’ Status Committee had ruled against the player, imposing a four-month ban and handing transfer window restrictions to East Bengal and Delhi FC, along with compensation amounting to ₹12.9 crore.
However, that compensation order was later set aside by the Delhi High Court, which directed AIFF’s Appeals Committee to rehear the matter. What followed was a series of postponements, with no conclusive outcome.
On December 26, 2025, the Appeals Committee referred the case back to the PSC once again, stating that any future decision would remain subject to the outcome of proceedings before the Delhi High Court. The PSC was scheduled to recommence hearings on January 12 this year but deferred the process indefinitely.
With the statutory 21-day deadline to approach CAS expiring, Mohun Bagan filed their appeal on the final permissible day.
Sources confirmed that both the club and the player had earlier urged AIFF to expedite the proceedings, while Mohun Bagan had also written to FIFA in November 2025 seeking clarity on the possibility of approaching CAS. FIFA subsequently indicated that it would engage with AIFF on the matter as required.
With the appeal now formally lodged, the case moves beyond Indian football’s domestic mechanisms, as Mohun Bagan seek a time-bound and definitive resolution from the global sports arbitration body.
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