Indian football club faces ban after violence
Mohun Bagan were a goal down away from home against bitter rivals East Bengal on Sunday when a stone hurled from one of the stands occupied by Bagan supporters – and apparently aimed at the referee – hit the club's midfielder Syed Rahim Nabi.
The match resumed after a 13-minute stoppage towards the end of the first half, but Mohun Bagan refused to take the field after the interval as Nabi, an India international, was treated for a fractured right jaw.
The Kolkata-based Telegraph newspaper quoted police as saying that 45 people, including seven policemen, were injured as fans disrupted traffic and stoned cars outside the Salt Lake stadium.
Some 85,000 fans attended the match at the 100,000-capacity venue.
Sunando Dhar, chief executive of India's top division the I-League, said tournament rules stipulated that a team could be banned for three years for refusing to take the field.
"Having played until half-time, Mohun Bagan could be suspended from the current season and the following two seasons for not agreeing to continue the game," Dhar told the Press Trust of India.
The I-League committee is expected to decide Mohun Bagan's fate before their next match against Pailan Arrows on December 15, the Telegraph said.
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i dont get it.....since when did football become tense in india lie western countries???
@Zaid Hamid: What to do? The Indian courts declared the evidence unacceptable.
I remember those old days in Kolkata. Football match between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal was always tense and interesting. You will see the effect of who won the same evening in the markets. Price of fish (Ilish Maach) would be up if East Bengal won as they would celebrate by eating more fish and price of Mutton would be up if Mohun Bagan won.as they would celebrate by eating more mutton. During my last visit to Kolkata, friends told me that those days are gone for ever now. Street fights between the supporters of the two teams were also very common.
A Muslim stoned in Hindu India and the world is silent!