Mohun Bagan on Saturday criticised the All India Football Federation for issuing a strong warning to them for offering cash “incentive” to the Mohammedan Sporting club during the ONGC I-League in April.

In their executive committee meeting yesterday, the AIFF decided to issue a strong warning and asked other clubs not to follow such practices as was done by the Kolkata giant.

Mohun Bagan had offered Rs. 5 lakhs to the Mohammedan Sporting club who were fighting their relegation battle in the final round of the I-League.

However, Mohun Bagan general secretary Anjan Mitra chose to denounce the AIFF decision and said the FIFA rule doesn’t stop one from supporting any team.

"We have every liberty to support a Bengal side and offer cash award at individual capacity. Tomorrow, we are rooting for Bengal’s success and already announced a cash award of Rs one lakh," Mitra said.

"We did not have any ill-intentions. Even the governing body, FIFA says you can support for a side in their victory, there’s no harm in that. We are not at fault," Mitra added.

Mohun Bagan has announced Rs. 1 lakh prize money for Bengal team if it manages to win Santosh Trophy. Mohun Bagan is the only club in India which has stood behind its state team.  This is indeed a great step taken by Mohun Bagan management. IFA will also give Rs. 5000 each to all the players of Bengal if they become Champions.

Meanwhile, the Santosh trophy final between Bengal and Goa will be held tomorrow at 5.30 pm. The match will be shown live in Zee Sports. Mohun Bagan right back and Bengal captain Habibur will likely miss tomorrow’s match due to injury. Rajib Ghosh or Anupam Sarkar might replace him.

Edeh Chidi will be the third player of foreign origin in the team Mohun Bagan for the year 2009-2010. The 22 year old striker has a very good track record in i-League. He played for Mahindra United in the last season. He scored 11 goals in the last i-League for his team and got Man of Match award in 5 matches.

 

 

 

When asked Chidi said his partnership with Dudu was his best partnership till date.  He enjoyed playing for Dempo. When asked what was the reason for selecting Mohun Bagan – Chidi confirmed that he wanted to play this season in Kolkata and he is aware of the pressure in Kolkata football.  The 22-year-old Nigerian striker said to press that he is ready to take the challenge. General Secretary, Anjan Mitra presented him the jersey in a press conference held in club tent.

 

 

 

On this occasion, Chidi Edeh said that he was happy to be able to don the Green & Maroon colours this season and he was looking forward to the challenge and pressure of playing for Mohun Bagan. He also said that he would utilize the experience gained from playing for Dempo SC and Mahindra United during his 2^nd stint at Kolkata (Chidi had played for Mohammedan SC before). He mentioned that he was looking forward to a good combination with Barreto.

Today a letter has been sent from Mohun Bagan club to AFC regarding an article which was published yesterday in the official website of AFC, www.the-afc.com.

 

Dated: 26th May 2009

Mr. Alex Soosay,
Acting General Secretary,
Asian Football Confederation,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Dear Sir,

We have just come across a new article on your Official Website under the title “Bhutia blues for storied Bagan” and though the article mentions at the end states that “the views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of AFC” but the fact that the article is on the Official Website of AFC has upset many of our members and millions of supporters spread all over the world.

I would like to clarify under what circumstances the Club was forced to show cause our captain Bhaichung Bhutia; which was no less painful for us than it was for the player.

• Bhaichung missed vital practice sessions of our Team during the ONGC I-League. He joined the Team for the last ONGC I-League match at New Delhi without attending the venue practice before this match.
• He played the Super Cup match at Gurgaon (match to ascertain the Champion Club of India) without attending the venue practice and arrived at 1:30 am in the morning of the match day.
• He refused to play the AFC Cup away match against Kuwait SC citing injury but later we found out that he had gone to Mumbai to participate in a dance reality show and showed no signs of injury when the program was telecast later on TV
• He did not attend practice sessions of the Team at Amman, Jordan for the away match earlier this month against Al Wehdat in the AFC Cup and reached Amman at 1 am in the morning on the day of the match. Consequently his performance was not upto the mark
• A charity match for Football Development was organized outstation by our Club. Bhaichung did not turn up at the Airport and his Boarding Card had to be cancelled at the very last minute. He did not participate in this match and the spectators were angry. Neither was there any reason for his absence nor did he inform any Official of the Club.
• Bhaichung was more focused on the dance reality show and Football had become his secondary interest. Inspite of his absence and misconduct he has received all his payments due to him for the 2008-2009 football season.

Bhaichung was made Captain of our Team and so he had a vital role to motivate his team mates and behave like a leader and to inspire the youngsters. We leave it to your good judgment as a Senior Football Administrator to ascertain whether the manner in which Bhaichung behaved is exemplary of a leader? The other Team Members were slowly being affected by this indiscipline behavior of their Captain and it would have been unfair to let someone get away with gross misconduct only on the ground that he is an “Icon in Indian Football.” Were Football Greats like Maradona and Zidane not booked by Referees for their fouls committed or should Referees chose to look away just because of their popularity and contribution for the game? In fact an Icon is meant to be more professional on and off the field.   

Furthermore, the article mentions that our Club had a “Poor Start” but we wish to clarify that the Club started the 2008-2009 season with a bang winning the Premier Division of the Calcutta Football League involving four of the ONGC I- League teams and the Federation Cup. The season was rounded off with a thumping win over Churchill Brothers (National League Champions) in the Super Cup match thereby becoming Champion of Champions for the 2008-2009 season. Performance-wise it has been a very memorable season for our Club since we have won three out of the four major tournaments in which we participated thereby becoming the most successful Club of India this season.

We request you to please post our views in this regard on the AFC Official Website and oblige.

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,
Anjan Kumar Mitra
Hony. General Secretary
Mohun Bagan A.C.

COURTESY: www.mohunbaganac.com (official website of Mohun Bagan club)