Mohun Bagan refuses to travel to Iran, meaning its withdrawal from ACL

Mohun Bagan SG defeated Goa FC in the semi-finals to secure a final clash with East Bengal in the Durand Cup 2023

3 minutes of reading Last update: October 7, 2024 | 16:21 IST

Mohun Bagan Super Giant is believed to have withdrawn from the AFC Champions League 2 after the Kolkata-based team decided not to travel to Iran to play Tractor FC, continental body AFC said on Monday, pending a further decision on the matter.

Keeping in mind the “safety and security” of its players, Mohun Bagan Super Giant last month decided not to travel to Iran for the match on October 2 due to the unstable situation prevailing in the West Asian country at the time.

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“Pursuant to Art. 5.2 of the 2024/25 AFC Champions League 2 Competition Regulations The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) confirms that India’s Mohun Bagan Super Giant is deemed to have withdrawn from the ACL 2 competition after the club failed to report to Tabriz. ..v Tractor FC October 2, 2024.” – AFC reported.

“Accordingly, all matches played by Mohun Bagan SG are canceled and declared void in accordance with Article 5.6 of the Competition Regulations. For the avoidance of doubt, no points or goals from a club’s matches in Group A will be taken into account in determining the final rankings in accordance with Art. 8 section 3 of the Competition Regulations.

Mohun Bagan SG was scheduled to face Tractor FC on October 2 in a Group A ACL 2 match – the continent’s second-tier club competition – but their players expressed reluctance to play in Iran, which declared a state of mourning following the death of a prominent Revolutionary Guard general in an Israeli airstrike.

“The matter will now be referred to the relevant AFC committees in accordance with their decision,” the AFC said in a statement.

In their first match in Group A, Mohun Bagan drew goalless with FC Ravshan of Tajikistan.

It turned out that 35 registered players, including seven foreigners, wrote to the club that they did not want to go to Iran at the moment.

“Therefore, we marked their lists and wrote to AFC asking them to postpone the match or shift the match to a neutral venue,” a Mohun Bagan source told PTI.

“We have decided not to travel to Iran with the safety of our players in mind as this is the most important thing. We have also written to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in line with their advice, that you may travel to Iran or Israel at your own risk.

(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard team; the rest of content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)

First publication: October 7, 2024 | 16:21 IST