Shillong Lajong face Tuboi troubles

Did Shillong Lajong FC (un)knowingly play a player who has been attached to another team during the ongoing season? The concerned player is Lajong striker Saikhohao Tuboi, who has been suspended by the AIFF after the federation received reports that Tuboi had played for an Army side in the Calcutta Football League before rejoining Lajong FC later in the season.

And there is utter confusion on who the player is contracted to. Interestingly Tuboi is registered with the Meghalaya FA as well as the Indian Football Association (West Bengal) as he has played for both Lajong and Army during this season.

It becomes even more confusing as the IFA allowed Tuboi to play for the Army team in the Calcutta Football League, while he then later played for Lajong FC in the IFA Shield.

The Meghalaya FA say that Tuboi has been registered with them as a Lajong player since 2009, but it is unclear how a player can play in Kolkata without an inter-state transfer or taking a loan move.

The AIFF has suspended Tuboi, but as the protest lodged by Southern Samity was too late Lajong will not face any action for possibly fielding an ineligible player. Tuboi has been scoring goals for Lajong, so it will be interesting to see what the AIFF does as participating clubs are already saying the federation is favouring the local sides by playing in Shillong especially Lajong FC and this latest affair won't be to their liking either.

And the two state FA's have to answer questions on how a player can be registered with two state FA's at the same time.