East Bengal players receive April’s salary

The players of I-League club East Bengal have received their salaries for the month of April, Goal can confirm. 

With the Coronavirus pandemic hitting football hard, East Bengal’s investors Quess Corp decided to activate the Force Majeure clause on the contracts and the players were asked to sign a letter of termination in April. However, the players refused to accept the move and their salaries remained unpaid. 

It has now been learnt that although the players have not signed the letter of termination,  the investors have cleared the salaries of April. The salaries for the month of May remains unpaid. 

Quess East Bengal FC was the first club in I-League to activate the Force Majeure clause. After the Kolkata club made their decision, former I-League champions Chennai City FC also joined the party in cancelling the existing contracts of their players by activating the same clause.

Several clubs across the world are taking this step of activating the Force Majeure clause after the football season was halted due to the pandemic. Players and coaches of some of the top European clubs like Juventus, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona have unanimously decided to take a pay cut and help their clubs in this extraordinary situation.

Earlier this week, East Bengal’s assistant coach cum physical trainer Carlos Nodar had blasted Quess Corp over non-payment of salaries and non-cooperation during the lockdown in India. Foreign players Johnny Acosta and Kassim Aidara have also publicly criticised Quess East Bengal for their attitude during the ongoing crisis.