Mukti Joddha get title by default

CALCUTTA, June 16: It all started with the weather turning a little rough on Friday last. Rains, that day, forced the first semi-final of th...

CALCUTTA, June 16: It all started with the weather turning a little rough on Friday last. Rains, that day, forced the first semi-final of the McDowell Cup football tournament to be deferred. But, the sequence of events that followed left the four-year-old tournament in a shambles and Bangladesh side Mukti Joddha, the reluctant champions by default.

The Bangladeshis, who were forced to extend their stay after the histrionics here during the past couple of days, will finally get to leave tomorrow.The IFA tried to persuade Mohun Bagan and East Bengal to reverse their decision to pull out of the tournament, but the clubs did not relent.

Finally, the governing body proposed to the tournament committee that Mukti Joddha be declared the winners.

So, the McDowell Cup this year will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. First, Bagan coach Amal Dutta got beaten up by fans and the side refused to play their semi-final against East Bengal. Then, in a dramatic fashion, East Bengal declared that they would rather wait for Bagan to field a team than enter the final by default. The match was rescheduled, but the very next day, both announced their decision to withdraw from the tournament.

To complicate matters, an IFA official is reported to have said that there are no fixed rules in the tournament regarding this issue, fuelling speculation on how stern the promised stern action8217; against the two clubs will be. The joint-secretary of the IFA, while sympathising with the clubs on a personal level8217;, said the association will be forced to take action against Bagan and East Bengal. The clubs8217; decision to withdraw came after a few vernacular dailies here carried speculative reports that they might have been told by the UB Group to get on with the game. The IFA will convene a special governing body within a week to decide on the course of action to be taken against the two city teams.