Another CFL encounter, another day of dominance, another hat trick by ace striker, Muritala Ali and another 3 points earned. That could be a good way to summarize today’s match against Mohammedan AC as the Mariners won the match 3 -1.

Today was the fourth post-puja encounter for Mariners in Sahara CFL 2010 and the resilient Mariners displayed their sheer dominance to earn 3 valuable points beating Mohammedan AC 3 – 1 at their home ground. The deadly trio, ‘Berreto-Chidi-Muritala’, were in-charge right from the beginning of the match and it was Muritala’s day today as he found the net on 11^th minute as he finished the movement spearheaded  by Snehasis and Barreto (1 – 0). However, the initial lead didn’t sustain long as Saheed of Mohammedan AC took the advantage of defensive lapse and stunned the stadium with an equalizer on 18^th minute (1 – 1). Since the resumption of post puja vacation encounters, Mariners defense were unbeaten till 288 minutes but a rare mistake from Karan Atwal might prove to be costly for the team on this occasion.

Fact sheet of today’s match

 Picture Courtesy : Bartaman

A 3-0 victory against Railway Football Club brought sweet 3 points in Sahara CFL for Mariners. Muritala Ali opened the score card in the first half while Edeh Chidi scored a couple of brilliant goals in the second half and ensured a convincing win in the 6th match for the team Mohun Bagan. The win takes the Mariners at the top segment of the standing with 13 points in 6 matches.

Bagan coach Stanley Rozario opted for the same XI like previous match against George. Right from the begining, Mariners created immense pressure to the Railway Football Club’s defence. In the 22nd minute Surabuddin, the under-19 member of the squad, missed an open net. However, in the 32nd minute Muritala Ali scored an easy goal from a rebound of RFC’s goalkeeper.  From a corner of Snehasis, Kingshuk’s header was cleared by goalkeeper of RFC within the goal in the six yards box but Muritala Ali was there to score from this move in a open net (1-0).

Immediately after taking the lead, couple of attacks were initiated by Mohun Bagan players but none of those could change the score sheet. In the 42nd minute Muritala Ali scored from Edeh Chidi’s cross but referee gave it offside. At the end of first half it was 1-0 in favour of Bagan.

In the second half Bagan started with a bang while a lot of attacks were initiated but many of those went in vain as Mohun Bagan players found themselves trapped in off-side position most of the occasions.

In the 60th minute of the match, a solo effort made by Dhanrahan from the left flank as he crossed the ball to Barreto and Barreto passed the ball to Edeh Chidi by a brilliant flick in right foot and Chidi made no mistake to put the ball into the net by his right toe (2-0). What a brilliant attack and team effort that has been !!

In the 64th minute Muritala Ali got bit physical and was shown yellow card. This time uncountable attacks from Snehasis in the left flank destroyed the defensive policy of Railway FC. We have to mention the name of Snehais Chakraborty for his attacking game and brilliant effort in the field for his team. In the 71st minute Stanley Rozario brought Ashim Biswas in the place of Muritala Ali and 79th minute Satish Kumar came in the place of Jose Barreto. Chidi scored his second and team’s third goal in the 80th minute by a brilliant volley (3-0).

In the 82nd minute Snehasis was replaced by academy boy young Souvick Chakraborty. After that severe attack was made by Mariners but didn’t increase their number of goal. However Bagan finished the match in happy mode by winning the match 3-0. Snehasis Chakraborty was declared Man of the Match.

Team:

Mohun Bagan – Shilton, Kingshuk, Sagram, Dhanarajan, Karan, Jayanta, Snehasish (Souvick), Surabuddin, Barreto (Satish Kumar), Chidi(C), Muritala (Ashim).

 Picture Courtesy : Bartaman

If there were nagging doubts in the Mohun Bagan dressing room that we can win the Premier League this season, they were firmly banished by the 7-0 win against George Telegraph.

The Nigerian Edeh Chidi’s 4 goals of the match – that lead to completion of 150 goals in India proved to be the winner that sent his side back to the run for the top of the table as Bagan won 7-0 over George Telegraph. Subair Muritala ali scored the remaining three goals.One can’t remember when was the last time in Premier Division football two hattricks took place in the same game.

Being second in the Federation Cup is not nice, particularly when the referee cancelled two clean goals, but when Mariners are playing in this Premier league with so many games, the fans saw that the players were fresh and this is important.

A full fortnight to prepare and rest ahead of monday’s match  was a help but it was not a smooth build-up for Chidi who had fitness issues from the beginning of the season. However he started scoring from the very 1st minute and he alone scored the goals at 1st, 5th, 45th and 71st minute.
Chidi, with the Captain’s arm band today,  believes Premier League excursions could be seen in the title holder’s start to the game.

Muritala Ali assisted him well with goals scored in 47th , 53rd and 77th minute.
Snehasish (replaced by Satish in 69th minute), Jayanta and Barreto (replaced by Diamondstar in 55th minute) controlled the midfield. Even young Surabuddin (replaced by David in 73rd minute) supported the team in various occasions.

Chidi was elected as the Man of the Match.

Meanwhile the derby between Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting scheduled on Sunday, 24th October, will be postponed, Bagan will play against Eastern Rail on that day at Mohun Bagan Ground from 2.30 pm.

Team:

Mohun Bagan – Shilton, Kingshuk, Sagram, Dhanarajan, Karan, Jayanta, Snehasish( Satish Kumar 71′), Surabuddin(Davic 74′), Chidi(C), Muritala, Barreto (Diamondstar 56′).

Picture Courtesy : Bartaman

AIFF has announced the iLeague dates. Mohun Bagan will kick off the iLeague against Pune FC this year. However, AIFF, having tendencies of changing the calendar in favour of some clubs from time to time, might change the fixture few times this season as well.

The fixture for Mohun Bagan is as follows

Mariners will resume their unfinished CFL 2010-11 campaigns tomorrow after a month long break due to Federation Cup and Durga Puja vacation. And needless to say that they have a task on-hand. Till now, the CFL campaign for the last two consecutive years’ champion has been anything but impressive. With 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat in the opening encounters, Mariners are expected coming back with a bang. Though the nightmare of 2nd Oct would still continue to haunt us some more time, it’s time for the Team to continue the momentum and tempo displayed during the Fed Cup.
Mohun Bagan will start their post Puja campaign in fresh and hopefully with all the squad members fit.

However, the team management needs to do serious introspection on certain aspects while deciding upon the team strategy –

1. 5 CFL matches for the Mariners in 11 days (between 19-Oct-2010 and 30-Oct-2010) – Physical fitness will be a big challenge for any team in this situation. The key is to make suitable rotation amongst the squad members. Going by the first four CFL encounters of this season, only 3 players (Sangram, Kingsuk Debnath and Surabuddin) have got all the four matches full times whereas 11 players (out of 30) in the squads, who have been registered for CFL 2010-11, have not yet been utilized in any of the CFL encounters so far. We might expect a lot of flexibility on rotation front from the think tanks.
2. I-League campaign will start only on 27-Nov-2010 – Hence we have some time to experiment with the various formations and combinations so as to get all the right plans in place before i-League kicks off. And CFL matches are ideal for these kinds of experiments. However, the huge fan pressures with sky high expectation would always put the team management on a tight rope. And that is always tagged to the brand ‘Mohun Bagan’. Living up to the expectation with all sorts of experiments is the name of the game!!
3. All out attack vs Sicilian defense – The team have scored 2.5 goals per match (on average) in the first four encounters of this year’s CFL whereas the opponents have been able to score 1 goal per match (on average). Despite the facts that it’s still very early into the league campaign and big matches have still to come, our defense is, by no means, anywhere comparable to formidable Sicilian defense. However, the big positive factor could be the resilience and determination shown by our defenders during the Fed Cup campaign where our defense only conceded 3 goals in 5 matches.
4. Card offence and fair play – This might look trivial but plays a crucial role in crunch outings. The story could have been different if Gauranga Dutta, who was outstanding in previous matches, wouldn’t miss the final because of 2 yellow card offences. 4 players (Muritala, Kingsuk, Surabuddin and Sk. Azim) of the squad have been cautioned once by the match referee in as many CFL encounters till now. We have to more careful in forthcoming encounters on this dimension.
   
   

Here we go then. For the fans of Mohun Bagan, all the above mentioned tactics, facts and figures do matter a lot. However, just 3 points in each and every CFL encounter from tomorrow onwards can set aside all the statistical jugglery, and that is what matters most to the entire die hard Mohun Bagan fans across the globe.

So seat back, relax, keep your fingers crossed and expect the big guns of Mariners roar again!!

One of the few incidences where a referee fixed a football match was proven in the Liverpool Inter Milan European Cup semi final in 1965.

Inter scored direct from an indirect free kick and also by kicking tho ball out of the hands of the Liverpool goalkeeper to go through.

The referee was seen drinking champagne with the Inter side later. the referee subsequently admitted he’d been bribed. It had happened the year before too at the San Siro when Dortmund had a key player sent off. in 1966 a Hungarian referee refused to accept a bribe and Real Madrid held on to win the trophy.

In theory, it’s plausible. Referees can be bribed  in games they are officiating.

The big question is- whether Dinesh Nair was bribed before the Federation Cup final ? I don’t think you will ever have an answer to the same. Nair, whose decisions have always been controversial – will perhaps never face any investigation by Indian Football’s highest body. No case will ever be lodged and no raids will take place to check if his assets are disproportionate to his known sources of income. No investigation will take place to check what was he doing the last 48 hours before the Federation Cup final and his call list will never be verified.It will never be proved that whether he is corrupt or whether he is biased against Mohun Bagan.

End result – the team who deserved a win, who scored twice, whose players were tripped off inside the penalty box – have lost a game 0-1 and lost the chance to qualify for AFC.

Meanwhile Mohun Bagan has sent a letter to the President of AIFF for the poor refereeing standard –

Dated: 4th October 2010

The President

All India Football Federation

Football House

New Delhi

Dear Sir,

Our Club, Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is one the oldest Clubs of Asia and has a rich history and tradition. Our Club has won the Federation Cup 13 times, a feat not achieved by any other Club in India. We are a fan based club and have millions of supporters and members of spread all over the globe. We hope that it has already come to your notice that two genuine goals scored by McDowell Mohun Bagan were disallowed by the Match Officials during the Final match of the 32nd Federation Cup held on 2nd October 2010 at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack. Both the goals were scored at critical junctures of the final match. While Ashim Biswas’s goal at the fag end of the 1st half would have helped McDowell Mohun Bagan take the lead, Muritala’s goal would have helped take the lead with just 10 minutes to go for the final whistle. In both cases, the goals were disallowed for reasons unknown to us. No whistle was blown or flag was raised while the process to score the goals were on. On both occasions opponent defenders and their goalkeeper made full attempts to prevent the ball from entering the goalpost. On both occasions just after players got in a huddle and started celebrating, did they notice that the goals were not given by the Referee Dinesh Nair. Moreover Chidi was brought down inside the penalty box and whistle was blown for infringement. However to everyone’s dismay only a free kick was awarded outside the penalty box.

Please also note that our player Muritala was shown the 1st yellow card because he had hit the ball after the whistle was blown by the referee for an infringement but when Kingfisher East Bengal’s Tolgey committed the same offence and volleyed the ball into the goal after the Referee blowed the whistle, he was only verbally cautioned and no card was shown to him. It is very important to note that during the Federation Cup 2007 held at Ludhiana, it was the same Dinesh Nair who disallowed a genuine goal scored by Bhaichung Bhutia during the semi final match at a crucial time when we were down 2-3 against Kingfisher East Bengal. We had reported the matter to AIFF and had also requested AIFF not to deploy him in any vital match of our Team. Moreover Dinesh is not a FIFA Referee so we wonder why he was deployed as the Referee of the final match of such a vital competition. It has been seen that referee postings are handled by some senior AIFF officials and only those in their good books get prized postings while other equally deserving are not considered for such important assignments. On the morning of the Final match, I myself met Mr. Ankur Dutta, Vice President of AIFF and Chairman of the Federation Cup Sub Committee and told him several times of my hunch that we would denied a win the Final match through Refereeing influenced by some senior officials of AIFF. You may please verify this from Mr. Ankur Dutta.

We have been unjustly prevented from winning the 32nd Fed Cup and it has also cost us the right to participate in the coveted AFC Cup 2010. This incident has tarnished the image of the Federation and the Tournament. So we urge you to please have a look at the recording of the match and judge the quality of Refereeing for yourself. If needed, we can forward you a copy of the match recording.

You have a dream of seeing the National Teams perform well at the International levels and our Senior National Team has embarked on exposure tours to Portugal and Dubai. The resources of the Federation are being mobilized for this purpose. We are very supportive of your efforts to take India forward in FIFA rankings and to ensure that India regains lost pride in International Football. Indian Football is moving in the right direction under your dynamic leadership. AFC also wants to make Indian Football totally professional and accordingly various criteria and benchmarks have been set for Clubs, players, coaches etc. However if the refereeing continues to be of such poor standard the entire momentum will be lost and the whole purpose will be defeated.

I take this opportunity to request you to please take appropriate steps against Dinesh Nair and the two other linesmen involved in this match. We understand that a new General Secretary is joining soon and so necessary steps need to be taken to uplift the standard of Refereeing in India.

Your earliest response in this regard is solicited.

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

Anjan Kumar Mitra

Managing Director

United Mohun Bagan Football Team

Copy:

• Mr. Subrata Dutta, Vice President, All India football Federation, Kolkata

• Mr. U.K. Ganguli, Hony. Secretary, IFA(WB), Kolkata

Referee Dinesh Nair does enough to make sure KEB wins the 32nd Federation Cup. 2 goals canceled – 2 penalty calls rejected, one red card and KEB retains the trophy. Bagan did enough but did not plan playing against 11 players and 3 match officials. At the same time Bagan deep defense should be held responsible for the goal Bagan conceded.

Cancellation of 2 goals for a team is not a very famililar scene in this type of match. But It happened due to Mr. Dinesh Nair, Referee of this match. Bagan fought well against 14 men rivals with 11 players and sometimes before end of the match with 10 players.

Just before end of the first half Ashim Biswas scored a brilliant goal from the edge of the box with a bullet shot and referee signaled it for goal but due to some unknown reason linesman signaled it offiside, but where is the offside Mr. Linesman? Please clarify it.

In the first half so called balanced team KEB looked like a defence oriented outfit while Bagan made the waves of attack to the opponent’s box. But didn’t capitalize from it.

In the 2nd half KEB made their way out to attack and got the goal from a Vasum grounder in the 53rd minute. Sk Azim again groped in front of attack like last match against Dempo. (0-1) And this made the scoreline in the final. But this might not be happened. If referee Dinesh Nair and linesman didn’t cancel the goal from a bi-cycle kick of Muritala Ali in the 73rd minute of the match. It was an unbelievable decision. Just few minutes before end of the match Muritala Ali  was shown  red card and got the marching order from Mr. East Bengal sorry Referee.

The match ends raising a lot of questions. How many goal Bagan has to score for winning the match or for making the goal valid. If god knows, expect match officialsand when the match officials get bit professional?

East Bengal: Sandip, Naoba, Nirmal, Okpara, Soumik, Vasum, Mehtab, Khabra( Ravinder 88′), Penn, Robin, Tolgey ( Ekene 77′).

Mohun Bagan: Shilton, Kinshuk, Sagram, Sk. Azim, Dhanarajan R, Diamondstar (Chidi 60′), Manish, Snehasish, Asim (Jayanta 74′), Barreto, Muritala

Referee: Dinesh Nair (Man of the match, alongwith other officials.)