In a press conference organized by the Organizing Committee of the Nagaland Super League (NSL) on May 12 at Niathu Resort, Chumoukedima, Abu Metha, Vice-President of the Athletic Federation of India and Secretary General of the Nagaland Olympic Association (NOA), addressed concerns regarding the delay in prize money distribution for the Nagaland Super League (NSL). Metha attributed the delay to several factors related to league regulations, compliance, and the novelty of organizing such a tournament in the state.
“The ecosystem of sport and league is very new to us. This type of leagues, tournaments, and even contracts take time to come through. Some of the leagues around the world take time to come through,” Metha explained.
He clarified that the prize money had already been disbursed to players but through individual bank transactions. “We have given the prices to individual awardees, and every prize has been processed through a bank transaction. The transaction went straight to the accounts that they submitted,” he stated.
Metha then addressed concerns about the cash penalties for yellow and red cards, which are part of the league’s regulations. “According to the guidelines of the franchises and the league, there are cash penalties for yellow cards and red cards, and it is also mandatory for the franchises to make a payment of these penalties before the next match,” he explained. He noted that while many teams were unable to fulfill this requirement, matches still went ahead, with the league relaxing the rules. “Even now, some of the teams have not paid the mandatory match penalties they are supposed to pay. But we have relaxed the rules for that,” he added.
Metha further elaborated on the league’s design, which aimed to protect players and promote professionalism. “When the NSL was designed and formulated, we came up with a set of regulations. The aim is to promote both the footballers – to protect the footballers. We made it compulsory that each franchise must have a personal contract with each player. A contract that is vetted by the NSL and as per the norms of AIFF,” he said. “The contract also has to state specifically what is the pay you are paying to the player. We also made base pay…for example, the U-20 player, the base pay was Rs 20,000 per month, and there was no upper limit.”
He emphasized that professionalism in the league goes beyond players’ earnings and must be reflected in the organizing committee, officials, umpires, and, most importantly, the clubs and franchises. “Being a professional league is not only about players earning money. Professionalism has to come from the organizing committee, officials, and umpires and most importantly the club and franchises,” Metha noted.
Addressing the issue of delayed documentation from some franchises, Metha pointed out that strict adherence to regulations was required. “We stuck to the regulations and did not bend the regulations for anybody. That’s why we said that every contract signed with the player, every salary you pay to the player, that report and transaction proof has to be given to the organizing committee every month. Only then, you are cleared to move on to the next month,” he stated. “But many of the franchises could not provide these documents on time, except for a few.”
Metha also clarified the prize money disbursement process, stating that it was contingent on compliance with league regulations. “We also made it clear from the beginning that prize money will be given based on fulfilling your compliances, sticking to the regulations, and only then will the prize money be cleared,” he said.
He reassured the franchises about the support provided by the organizing committee at the outset of the league. “In the beginning, we also assured all the franchises that we will be supporting you in the form of tickets. All the franchises were given Rs 5 lakh worth of tickets without any payment, and whatever they generated from those Rs 5 lakh belonged to them. We gave back to them their investment of Rs 5 lakh,” Metha explained.
Metha concluded by reiterating that prize money had already been disbursed to the clubs that had complied with the regulations. “In that context, whichever club has submitted their compliances and their regulations, all prize money has been given. Whichever club has not submitted, they will have to comply. That is the rule of the NFA and the regulation of AIFF,” he emphasized.