The last nail was struck on strife torn Mohun Bagan's coffin by FIFA when they slapped a 11,000 dollar fine and barred them from recruiting any more foreign players till April 30, 2004 for not remitting the contract amount to Isa Musa.

The news has come at a time when as the club was desperately looking for a foreign recruit to lend some stability to the disoriented midfield.

Club Secretary Anjan Mitra said, "We had suspended George Ekke and Isa Musa for breaking the club discipline and provoking the players not to play for the club. Copies of the letter had been forwarded to IFA, AIFF and FIFA.

"So we have a reason for stopping their payments. It's not as if we did not want to pay them," he said.

It was only on last Wednesday during the administrators' meeting at the club tent, coach Alok Mukherjee had requested for a foreign central midfielder to marshall the midfield, which at present looks jittery to say the least. Talks had also advanced to get back Ekke from Nigeria or recruit a Brazilian through newly appointed Sao Paolo-based physio Robson D'Olivera.

However, all these activities will have to be postponed for the time being.

Currently Mohun Bagan has Brazilian strikers Jose Rameirez Barreto, Marcos Perriera and Nigerian defender Akunito. Mohun Bagan, however, can appeal to FIFA to reconsider its decision. But any decision in favour of the green-maroons or against them will take at least a minimum of four months going by the schedule that FIFA follows in calling Players' Status Committee.

There is already a lot of tension in the club after it lost to Mohameddan Sporting in the Federation Cup semis. Supporters and some officials even heckled coach Alok Mukherjee on the matter.

However, with a court notice hanging round the it's neck, special officers taking care of the day-to-day activities, unaudited accounts for years, no elections for a decade and frustrated supporters already tearing apart India's oldest club, the FIFA notice could only act as a catalyst for its downfall.