East Bengal players have decided against yielding an inch to the club’s investor Quess.

In another mail sent to the investor, the players have said they would want Quess to respect the contractual obligations.

“We got a reply to our email sent on April 26. And now we have told Quess that we are not in a mood to forfeit May’s salary,” a senior footballer told The Telegraph.

On April 25, Quess had activated the force majeure clause to terminate all the contracts with effect from May 1 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. However, players will be allowed to avail all the other facilities.

“It’s a tricky situation now. We are all indoors and it’s getting tougher to communicate between us. Some players are also not checking their phones regularly and that is also delaying our next move.

“Also, we are allowed to use the accommodation till May 31. Now if the lockdown gets extended, then what happens to us? Outstation players are really worried about that,” the footballer said.

“The Spanish footballers and coaching staff are also leaving, so we do not know how we would communicate with them once they reach home. After all, there is a time difference,” he added.

Some of the foreign players and coaching staff of East Bengal and Mohun Bagan would be leaving for New Delhi on Sunday morning. The flight to Amsterdam will be taking off on Tuesday. From there they would go to their respective destinations.

“They are expected to leave for New Delhi around 8am. We have also advised them to avoid a night’s stay in Varanasi. It’s up to them,” a club official said.

Flight to UK

The British nationals of Real Kashmir Football Club are expected to board a flight to UK from Amritsar on Thursday. That’s good news for head coach David Robertson and the others who are stuck in Srinagar.

“The British high commission got in the touch with the state administration on Saturday. If everything goes to plan, David and the rest should be starting their journey from Srinagar to Amritsar on Wednesday. It’s a 15-hour drive,” RKFC co-owner Sandeep Chattoo told this paper.