Popular Indian football club Mohun Bagan was given a two-year suspension from the top league Saturday for walking off the pitch after one of its players was injured by a stone thrown from the crowd. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) said in a statement that it had also decided to have all of Mohun Bagan's matches in the ongoing I-League competition "cancelled and considered null and void".
Mohun Bagan was a goal down in an away match against bitter rivals East Bengal in Kolkata on December 9 when a stone hurled from one of the stands - and apparently aimed at the referee - hit midfielder Syed Rahim Nabi. The I-League match resumed after a 13-minute stoppage towards the end of the first half, but Mohun Bagan refused to take the field after the interval as Nabi, an India international, was treated for a fractured right jaw.
Nabi, who has made 49 appearances for the national team, was ruled out of action for at least six weeks after undergoing surgery. The I-League committee of the AIFF decided to "disqualify" Mohun Bagan "from taking part in the next two I-League editions" after receiving a report from retired judge A. K. Ganguly.
The judge concluded in his report that the decision of Mohun Bagan to not resume the match after the interval "cannot be supported". The I-League committee endorsed the decision of the judge that Mohun Bagan was in breach of I-League regulations, the AIFF said in a statement. Some 85,000 fans attended the match at the 100,000-capacity Salt Lake stadium.
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