Thirty-five Mohun Bagan Super Giant players, in a joint letter to the club management on Monday, conveyed that they do not want to travel to Iran for their AFC Champions League 2 match against Tractor SC, citing security reasons.
Mohun Bagan is scheduled to play Tractor on October 2 at the Yadegar-e-Emam Stadium in Tabriz, Iran.
However, the situation in Iran is reportedly volatile at the moment after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli air strike in Lebanon on September 28.
Supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has announced five days of mourning in the country in the wake of Nasrallah’s death and reports of violence are surfacing from across various parts of the country.
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“We have forwarded that letter to the AFC and also tagged AIFF (All India Football Federation). Nowhere are we saying that we will not play, but we have not been guaranteed any security. Therefore, we have requested AFC to either reschedule the fixture or conduct it in a neutral venue,” a Mohun Bagan Super Giant official told Sportstar.
“All arrangements have been made. Flight tickets and hotel booking are completed – the club has spent over 50 lakhs on travel arrangements, but right now, it is not possible for the club to go and play in Iran when the situation is like this,” he added.
Asked whether AIFF has taken any steps to aid the situation, the Mohun Bagan representative said that the federation has not been helpful in any way till now.
The AIFF, however, refuted the claims of not helping the Mariners.
“I don’t know who said this — this is absolutely wrong. Mohun Bagan communicated their request to the federation, and we forwarded that to the AFC. AFC has sent them a reply so they [Mohun Bagan] know what is the stand of the AFC. So, we have nothing else to do at this stage,” an official in the AIFF upper management told Sportstar.
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Asked what AFC’s reply to the club is, the official refused to comment, saying it was something that Mohun Bagan would deal with appropriately.
If Mohun Bagan does not show up for the match on the stipulated date, it may face a fine of up to USD 10,000 (approximately INR 8.4 lakhs) and a 0-3 loss, with the match considered forfeited by the visiting team.
If more serious punishment is imposed, the Mariners might be banned from the current and future editions of the competition.
