Mohun Bagan, the Indian side that boasts Jamie Maclaren and Jason Cummings, had their quest to bring continental silverware to Kolkata come to a shockingly early end this week, as the Asian Football Confederation kicked them out of AFC Champions League Two.
After opening Group A with a scoreless draw against Tajikistani side Ravshan Kulob, Mohun Bagan were scheduled to face Tractor Cultural Sports Club last week in Tabriz, Iran.
However, the night before the match, Iran launched a missile strike at various military targets in Israel, claiming it was a response to several attacks and assassinations the Israeli military had carried out over the past several months, including the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon days before.
Even at this stage, the strikes had an effect in ACL Two. Iranian side Sepahan should have experienced unbridled joy at a 4-0 win at home over Tajikistan’s champions Istiklol; instead, the moment came tinged with fear, as fans spotted missiles flying over the stadium mid-match.
According to Indian newspaper of record The Hindu, Mohun Bagan’s players—presumably including Maclaren, as well as fellow Australians Cummings and Dimitri Petratos—wrote a joint letter to the club expressing that they did not want to attend the match, given the myriad security concerns, and the Indian Express reports the club had already decided against sending the team after Nasrallah’s assassination.
However, between the air strikes, some of which came from the city of Tabriz itself, and the subsequent shutdown of nearby airspace, the team may not have been able to make it there even if they wanted to.
Whatever the case, the AFC have declared that this constitutes Mohun Bagan’s withdrawal from ACL Two. In accordance with competition regulations, the match with Ravshan has been stricken from the record, and assuming no reversals, Group A will be contested as a three-team affair.
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Mohun Bagan has yet to release an official response.
Given how early this happened in the group stage, Mohun Bagan will have time to appeal and potentially be reinstated into ACL Two, and there is certainly precedent for working around warfare.
Last season, AFC Cup runner-ups Al Ahed played all of their home games outside their native Lebanon due to the country’s dangerous proximity to nearby conflicts, including hosting the final in Oman.
If things continue to heat up in Iran, and clubs like Tractor and Sepahan require special accommodations to play out their group stages, it will only add to Mohun Bagan’s case for reinstatement.
ACL Two competition is set to resume the week of October 21st.