Churchill Brothers footballers get bail

3 footballers nabbed for misbehaving with airhostess

Nigerians Odafe Okolie (25) and Ogba Kalu (20), and goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya (20) were arrested last night from the Mumbai airport for allegedly pushing and teasing an airhostess of the SpiceJet flight from Goa to Kolkata. The entire 23-member team alongwith them were offloaded here.
All three were booked for outraging the modesty of a woman, which is a bailable offence. They were granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 5000 each.
"There was repeated misbehaviour from the three players with the female crew who sought the intervention of the senior crew," Ajay Singh, director of the airlines, said.
"The senior crew tried to defuse the situation but the players were extremely abusive. The captain then intervened but the players were very abusive with him as well," he said.
Singh said the captain believed that the security of the crew and the passengers were endangered. "Other passengers were also very concerned about the behaviour of the players and wanted action".
Refuting the allegations, Odafe claimed this has happened only because he is a foreigner. "I was talking with my friend and the airhostess was passing from behind. I did not know she was coming and my hand touched her hand and they started shouting at me. I also started shouting at them".

The team was on its way from Goa to Kolkata via Mumbai for their I-League match against Mohun Bagan on Friday. The trio was offloaded from the SpiceJet flight SG 804 after the incident was reported to the CISF.
According to officials, the three players allegedly pushed one of the female crew members and Odafe tried to fondle her.
Odafe told reporters outside the police station that he was innocent and the airhostess and other crew members were not speaking the truth.
"If it was my country, I would have sued them," the player said.
The airlines spokesman said the captain decided to deplane the players in the interest of saftey of fellow travellers.
In Panaji, the Churchill Brothers Team management defended its players and said it was contemplating the possibility of filing a defamation case against SpiceJet for allegedly harassing its players.
Joaquim Alemao, president, Churchill Bros, said that although the accusations was against three players, his entire team of 23 was downloaded at Mumbai airport.