Bagan pulls out of soccer treat

JAYESH THAKER

Jamshedpur, Sept. 18: Soccer giant Mohun Bagan’s abrupt departure from the city on Tuesday had its expected fallout: the club called off its exhibition match against Tata Football Academy (TFA) slated for this Saturday, putting a question mark on ties involving glamorous Calcutta outfits in future.

Bagan finance secretary Debashish Dutta told The Telegraph over phone that they were not interested to play the match at the JRD Tata Sports Complex here alleging that the players of the club, including captain Bhaichung Bhutia, were treated shabbily by the organisers.

“Bhutia was not even asked for food. He was just overlooked and treated as an ordinary player. How can you expect us to play the match after these?” the Bagan functionary asked.

The official also said that the organisers should have had provided better accommodation to the team.

Jamshedpur Sporting Association (JSA), the organiser of the match, trashed the allegations of Dutta, though.

“The charges are baseless. We never meted out ill-treatment to any player or official of Mohun Bagan. The players of the visiting side were very cordial. The entire drama was created by Bagan coach Karim Bencharifa,” said JSA secretary Harbhajan Singh.

On the cancellation of the exhibition match, Singh stated that they had not invited Mohun Bagan to play the exhibition match.

“In fact, Bagan officials were keen to practice in the cool environs of Jamshedpur. Since they could not have approached us to use our facilities just for practice, they used the exhibition match as a tool for the same,” he said.

Significantly, the 38-member star-studded Bagan outfit comprising Bhaichung and Jose Ramirez Barreto had left the steel city in a huff on Tuesday evening complaining poor accommodation facilities.

JSA and officials of the match sponsor UB Group had tried their best to convince the Bagan coach and manager that the team would be provided better accommodation if they made adjustment for a day.

But the coach refused to relent, saying he wanted the team to stay at a single place.

The organisers had taken the Bagan coach and manager to two different hotels but they were not satisfied with the facilities offered.
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