I-League 2017: Indian Arrows, East Bengal coaching staff engage in war of words during match

Tempers flared on the sidelines of an I-League encounter between Indian Arrows and East Bengal at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi which took some gloss away from the Red and Golds’ 2-0 victory on Tuesday.

Arrows’ goalkeeping coach, Yusuf Ansari was seen hurling expletives at East Bengal head coach, Khalid Jamil during the first half of the game.

The fourth official had to calm things down when the Arrows dugout felt that a handball decision should have gone their way. On the other hand, Jamil was at the top of his voice to make it clear that it wasn’t a handball. All hell broke loose as Ansari was seen taking a few steps towards the away dugout while screaming, “chup saale b*******e.”

Jamil didn’t respond but East Bengal’s support staff got infuriated and they were in a mood to continue with the war of words, but the fourth official immediately restored calm to shift the focus back on the game. He also warned Ansari for the unruly behavior.

Later Arrows’ assistant coach Floyd Pinto played down the incident saying, “We knew this would be a rough and tough encounter for us and we played likewise. Yes, there were bookings but there’s nothing more than that.”

Pinto was also impressed with the fight that the youngsters put up against table toppers, East Bengal and felt that they would only improve in future.

Generally, the referee gives marching orders to the guilty party in situations like these but there was nothing more than a warning in this instance. Now it remains to be seen whether AIFF decide to take any action against Ansari or Jamil based on referee’s report or match footage.

Incidents like these are not at all expected from a member of the support staff of a club which is playing in the top tier of Indian football and in future the Indian Arrows management would surely like to keep the emotions of their staff in check.