Srinjoy Bose, a senior Mohun Bagan official, created quite a stir on social media when he compared the Calcutta Football League (CFL) to a circus following eternal rivals East Bengal’s 2-1 win over minnows Patha Chakra.
Bose posted a meme on Facebook which compared their Kolkata rivals to European behemoths Barcelona with respect to the degree of help they get from officials.
The senior official from Bagan accompanied the meme with a caption saying, “It is best not to play this circus called Calcutta Football League. I have no regrets that last year we did not play the so called big circus match. See how true is this pix [sic] which I saw on facebook.”
Facebook
The Mohun Bagan official seemed to infer that the entire state-association has been bought by their rivals.
The controversial moment Bose was referring to came in the dying moments of East Bengal’s clash with the score locked at 1-1. Syrian midfielder Mahmoud Amnah went down in the Patha Chakra penalty-box leading the referee to point to the spot.
The penalty was converted by East Bengal to keep its perfect record in the league so far alive with six wins from as many games. The late winner helped the club climb to the top of the CFL with a two-point lead over the Green and Maroons who dropped points on Wednesday after being held to a 1-1 draw by Rainbow AC.
The two Kolkata giants were united in their discussions with Indian Super League (ISL) stakeholders where the Indian Football Association (IFA) secretary Utpal Ganguli seemed to be their spokesperson. However, the truce now seems to have come to an end, with Mohun Bagan accusing the governing body of partisan behaviour – an allegation they have put forward quite often in the last few years.
Goal reached out to Ganguli for a comment on the matter but he said he was in a meeting and would respond later.
