Kolkata: Controversies regarding the referee in the ongoing CFL continued as Mohammedan Sporting also joined the league of accusators,
after losing their match 2-1 against Mohun Bagan at the Kalyani stadium on Monday.
Calling Uttam Sarkar, the referee of the match, ‘abusive’, the club wrote a letter to the IFA complaining that the referee used abusive words towards their player Tirthankar Sarkar, during the game.
Playing a do-or-die encounter, the Black Panthers got the best possible start when SK Faiaz put them ahead in the 21st minute. Bagan, who started the match cautiously however, equalised through Azharuddin Mallick in the 37th minute, to keep the score tied at 1-1 as both teams went into the break.
The second half saw a different Bagan, as the Mariners splurged forward on attack. But despite several attacks, they could not go past Shankar Roy, who was brilliant at the Mohammedan Sporting goal post today.
But then just when it looked like a dull draw was on the cards, Chesterpaul who came in as a substitute, sent in a juicy cross in between the defence and the goalie in the 91st minute of the match. Azharuddin ended up scoring his second goal of the evening to gift Bagan the lead and eventually the match.
Mohammedan Sporting Club official Belal Khan, requested the IFA to reschedule their next few games, so as to give the players some rest.
“The players need the recovery time. We are requesting IFA to change the dates. We want to play the game against Railway FC on the 14th September instead of 13th and want to play the East Bengal match on the 17th instead of 16th,” he said.
Utpal Ganguly, the IFA secretary as quoted by Xtratime, however responded back saying, “I am out of Kolkata now. So I can’t give any official statement from here. Let me come back and I will revert the issue.”
Meanwhile, this loss shatters the hopes of the Black Panthers once again, as they now will look to come back stronger next season.
Bagan on the other hand, leapfrogged arch rivals East Bengal to the top of the table, having played a match more.
As things stands now, it looks that the derby between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, is going to be the decider of the league.