Thirty-five Mohun Bagan Super Giant players sent a letter to the team management on Monday expressing their unwillingness to travel to Iran for Wednesday’s AFC Champions League 2 match against Tractor FC.
Iran declared five days of public mourning for Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday after the Hezbollah leader was confirmed killed in an Israeli air strike the previous day.
The team management has emailed the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) stating that the players were not feeling safe playing at the Yadegar-e Emam Stadium in Tabriz and requesting either a reschedule or a neutral venue.
Bagan also highlighted a travel advisory issued by the external affairs ministry in April which said “in view of the prevailing situation in the region, all Indians are advised not to travel to Iran or Israel till further notice.”
Bagan were originally supposed to fly to Iran from Bengaluru on Sunday.
The fate of the AFC Champions League 2 match is not clear and it remains to be seen whether the AFC agrees to Bagan’s request. AFC could also award three points and three goals to Tractor FC and penalise Bagan for forfeiting the match. Bagan, though, never said they would not play the game.
Tractor FC accused Bagan of making excuses. In a Facebook post, Tractor FC stated: “The Mohun Bagan club of India makes up excuses not to come to Tabriz and Azerbaijan... It is better to be defeated with 3-0 penalty for what they say than to be defeated with 10-0 insulted in a stadium worth 100 thousand...”
Bagan Tuesday onwards begin preparations for Saturday’s ISL-XI match against Mohammedan Sporting.
