Mohun Bagan demand 3 points for alleged refereeing errors

City football giants Mohun Bagan on Monday shot off a mail to All India Football Federation (AIFF) demanding three points for alleged refereeing gaffes during their recent I-League game against Chennai City FC.

The match, played in Coimbatore on February 7, had ended in a goalless draw.

A day after the AIFF disciplinary committee revoked the suspension on Chennai's Edwin Vanspaul who was mistakenly given a red card, the Green and Maroons said they were "deprived of an advantage" as the error saw an "ineligible player playing for fifteen minutes".

"Now, it is evident after the decision of the disciplinary committee that the referee was at fault for wrongly showing the red card to Vanspaul (jersey no.8), when principally he should have given the red card to Tarif Akhand (jersey no.3)... this goof up by the referee deprived us of an advantage.

"With this error an ineligible player continued to play for fifteen minutes.

"AIFF accepted the judgement of the disciplinary committee as Vanspaul was fielded in Chennai's next match.

"We are compelled to ask, as to why three points should not be awarded to our team for such gaffe made by the match official. Why would a team suffer for such an error?

"In wake of the above decision, we demand that three points be awarded to us which will do justice to the verdict of the Disciplinary Committee," said the mail addressed to I-League CEO Sunando Dhar.

Referee Akash Routh produced a yellow card for dissent to Chennai's Vanspaul in the 81st minute before giving him the marching orders despite the player being cautioned for the first time in the match.

In the minutes leading up to Vanspaul's sending off, Akhand received his second yellow of the match but Routh failed to show him the red card.

"During the 85th minute of the abovementioned match the referee gave yellow card to Vanspaul of Chennai City FC and instantly after checking status of card issued during the match, he further showed him a red card. The team official of Chennai City FC contested the decision and termed it wrong," read the letter written by Mohun Bagan director Debashis Dutta.

"Akhand of Chennai City was shown a yellow card in the 39th minute of the match and he was shown a second yellow card in the 80th minute for committing a foul on Mohun Bagan player Dipanda Dicka for which our team was awarded a penalty.

"A foul inside the box is a card offence. Since the player was already on a caution and as per rule, the referee should have showed him the red card for his second caution, but he continued and was there on the pitch till the final whistle," the letter further read.

Contacted for comment, the AIFF refused to react.

Mohun Bagan are virtually out of the title race after losing to laggards Gokulam Kerala FC 1-2 on Monday. Placed fourth, the Mariners have 21 points from 14 games, eight behind surprise league leaders Minerva Punjab FC.

--IANS

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