The pilot and crew members of a SpiceJet Goa-Kolkata flight grounded 23 members of a premier Goan football team, the Churchill Brothers, in Mumbai after an airhostess was allegedly molested by three footballers from the team.
The Mumbai police has detained all the 23 members of the team.
According to sources, flight SG804 from Goa to Kolkata via Mumbai was landing at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Domestic Airport in Santa Cruz on Tuesday evening, when the pilot radioed the ATC for help.
“The pilot told the ATC that some passengers were misbehaving with the flight crew members and requested assistance from the Central Industrial Security Force and the local police. Accordingly, a football team from Goa was deplaned and taken into custody,” said Mr Manish Kalghatgi, spokesperson of the Mumbai International Airport Limited.
Mr Amitabh Gupta, ACP (west region) said a probe has been launched but a formal complaint has not been registered. “We are trying to convince the airhostess to register a complaint but she is hesitant,” Mr Gupta said.
However, Mr Joquim Alemao, the team’s co-owner, said the matter had been blown out of proportion and threatened to sue the SpiceJet staff. “One of the players, Odafe Onyeka Okolie, accidentally touched an air hostess and even apologised. However, a crewmember came and picked a quarrel with us,” said Mr Alemao. “Even if one of the players did commit a mistake, where was the need to detain all? They have an important match on Friday and have missed a whole day’s practice.”
Okolie is India’s highest priced football player.
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