Bhutia, who joined the Kolkata club after Mohun Bagan suspended him for six months without pay on disciplinary grounds, sought release from his old club and had wanted the IFA to sort out the issue. But the IFA’s governing body meeting on Thursday, which was attended by 40 members, ended with 23 voting for the matter to be solved by the AIFF.

Bhutia had sent a letter to the AIFF a few days ago, and after receiving that, the sport’s governing body instructed the state association to send all papers related to the case to its players’ status committee.

Pradip Bose, a governing body member from West Bengal’s Office Sports Federation, questioned the AIFF’s authority to interfere in the issue. But majority of the members present at Thursday’s meeting thought otherwise and supported the move to send the case to the AIFF.

East Bengal officials were absent in the meeting, but with the case now moving to the AIFF, their chance to get Bhutia’s services in the upcoming season brightens considerably.

Mohun Bagan secretary Anjan Mitra tried to hide his disappointment by saying that Bhutia’s appeal to the AIFF showed his disrespect towards the state association. “I also didn’t expect the governing body members to buckle under pressure. Now I will wait for the AIFF’s decision before taking any further steps,” he said.

It is learnt that the Bagan management will drag the matter to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) if the AIFF rules in Bhutia’s favour. A section of the Bagan officials believe that Bhutia breached AFC’s code of conduct by addressing a press conference on the eve of Bagan’s concluding AFC Cup match against Al Wihdat of Jordan, when he was issued a show-cause notice by his club.