Violence mars league match as giants collide

The Calcutta Football League (CFL) Premier Division clash between the two city giants ended in a goalless draw,but it was nothing short of drama and disgrace as an otherwise not-so-uncommon disputed refereeing decision towards the fag end of the match snowballed into a crisis with the footballers of the warring teams exchanging abuses and blows.

The problem began over a debatable decision from referee Biplab Poddar in the 82nd minute of the game — just about 10 minutes from whistle. When Md Sporting defender Dipankar Roy was booked for a foul on East Bengal’s Saikat Saha Roy,Md Sporting’s Brazilian striker Eduardo Escobar appeared to have crossed the line with his over-animate protest against the referee’s decision.

Things reached a boiling point when the East Bengal players joined in and players from the two teams surrounded the referee and hotly argued with one another. That was when Eduardo lost his cool and reportedly spat at East Bengal East Bengal’s Uga Okpara and hurled abuses at other red-and-gold players.

Facing the brunt of motormouth Eduardo,East Bengal’s Alvito d’Cunha retaliated violently,going into a full-fledged fight with the temperamental Md Sporting player.

As fights between the two camps broke out,the chaotic scenes went totally out of control of the match officials and organisers. Sensing trouble,police personnel deployed at the ground for duty intervened and stopped the fights from getting bloodier,even as hundreds of bewildered spectators looked on from Yuba Bharati’s stands.

Play was held up for 10 long minutes before the match officials decided to somehow finish it off without further incident.

Order was restored eventually,but by then the referee had flashed the red card on four players — a precedence of sorts in the history of the city league’s top grade. East Bengal’s Alvito and Okpara,while their opponent team’s Eduardo and Dipankar were given the marching orders.

With pulses racing and such high drama unfolding at the ground,it was only understandable to see the referee blow the final whistle two full minutes before time.

Both the clubs,apart from admitting that their players were wrong in getting drawn into scuffles,have decided to lodge complaints with the Indian Football Association (IFA) over the standard of Poddar’s refereeing.