Dattaraj: Elano’s behaviour forced me to file FIR

FC Goa co-owner Dattaraj Salgaocar said today said that Chennaiyin FC captain Elano Blumer’s "ungentlemanly behaviour" forced him to lodge a complaint with the Goa Police instead of referring the matter to the ISL disciplinary committee.

Police arrested Elano Blumer of Chennaiyin FC on charges of allegedly assaulting Dattaraj Salgaocar, the co-owner of FC Goa.

FC Goa co-owner Dattaraj Salgaocar said today said that Chennaiyin FC captain Elano Blumer’s “ungentlemanly behaviour” forced him to lodge a complaint with the Goa Police instead of referring the matter to the ISL disciplinary committee.

Addressing the media, Dattaraj said that he along with Srinivas Dempo went to the dug-out of his team to congratulate his players when Elano came out from nowhere and started making fun of his players.

The victory celebrations for ISL champions Chennaiyin FC turned sour last night as their marquee Brazilian Elano was arrested by the local police for allegedly assaulting FC Goa co-owner Dattaraj. The Brazilian was later released on bail.

“When I questioned him, he (Elano) assaulted me without any reason,” Dattaraj said.

Asked why he did not report the matter to the ISL disciplinary committee, Dattaraj said doing that was of no use as nothing fruitful would have come out of it.

“Had Elano apologised to me or the referee red carded him, we would not have reported the matter to the police. Since these things did not happen, we wanted to show the Brazilian that we Goans are not cowards and went ahead and reported the matter to the police. If the ISL disciplinary committee takes action against us, we are prepared to reply to them,” stated Dattaraj.

Srinivas Dempo said that he too was manhandled at the entrance of the ground by the bouncers but he could understand that there was chaos and they could not identify the dignitaries.

“It could have been better if we have been escorted by someone, these things did not happen. But what happened to Dattaraj Salgaocar needed to be punished. If the ISL committee wants to take action against us we are ready to face it,” Dempo said.

Both co-owners, Dempo and Dattaraj, along with coach Zico, thanked the fans for the full support they have given them in bad and good times. “Our team played well in the final but we lost. Last year we reached the semi-finals and this year we reach the finals but lost. Next year we will try to win the title,” stated Dempo.

Chennaiyin beat FC Goa 3-2 in a high-octane final last night to win the second edition of Indian Super League.