Churchill Bros sponsors to probe airhostess molestation charge

Panaji, Jan 7 : Sex aphrodisiac makers Musli Power Xtra, official sponsors of the Churchill Brothers football team, will launch an independent private investigation to get to the bottom of the allegations of molestation against three players by an air hostess.

Speaking to IANS late Thursday night after a crucial meeting Churchill Brothers football club management, K.C. Abraham, managing director of Kunnath Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures Musli Power Xtra, said that until the independent private investigation was completed, the reported Rs.9 crore three-year endorsement deal would continue.

"Different versions of the molestation incident have emerged. We have decided to maintain the status quo vis a vis the endorsement deal until our private investigation is completed. We will meet once that is done to review the situation," John said, not ruling out hiring the services of a private detective agency to get to the bottom of the matter.

"This was only a preliminary meeting. The controversy has affected us because we are a respectable company with a good clientele and suppliers. This could hurt our image," the CEO said.

The meeting which was held Thursday night at a coastal resort in South Goa and was attended by K.C. Abraham, MD, Kunnath Pharmaceuticals, Kunnath's Indian Subcontinent MD, Suvrangsu Mukherjee, and representatives of the Total Sports Asia (TSA), a sports marketing agency which brokered the endorsement deal and club patron and state PWD Minister Churchill Alemao.

However, in a former statement, a Churchill brothers spokesperson only said that "the sponsors would continue to support the club Churchill Brothers Sports Club" adding that the matter was "resolved".

Three of the club's top players, including star striker Odafa Okolie from Nigeria, were Tuesday accused of molesting an airhostess on board the Spice Jet flight at Mumbai.

Following the complaint, the entire 23-member team, which had boarded the aircraft en-route Kolkata to play an I-league game with West Bengal giants Mohun Bagan, was offloaded at the Mumbai airport and criminal charges filed against the three accused.