ISL 2017: NorthEast fans allegedly face racism, eve-teasing in Chennai stadium

What's the story?

Last night, Chennaiyin FC faced off against NorthEast United FC and won 3-0, in their second home game of ISL 2017. Unfortunately, some of the Chennaiyin supporters got a little carried away with their celebration and seemingly started to make racist gestures towards a NorthEast fan.

In case you didn't know?

Last week, Chennaiyin FC were defeated 3-2 by FC Goa, while NorthEast United FC kick-started their season with a 0-0 draw to newcomers Jamshedpur FC.

The heart of the matter

Both eve-teasing and racism have been big problems in certain parts of the country. A video started doing the rounds on Twitter, which brought the incident to light. In this video, one particular fan, who is seemingly a supporter of Chennaiyin FC makes curious gestures towards a female NEUFC supporter.

Really disgusting behavior by some Chennaiyin fans against these Northeastern girls.Football is all about mutual respect.Hope we don't see any more of this anywhere.Say No To Racism#LetsFootball @fni @ pic.twitter.com/qC76zsyjWi

— Madhurzya (@FlyinGiggsy) November 24, 2017

Some people, on Facebook, also alleged that the girl in this video was being eve-teased.

There were a number of people who were watching the incident, but nobody stepped in to intervene. Instead, they merely watched from the sidelines. Some of them even seemed to be mocking the group of NEUFC supporters.

As for the match itself, both teams needed to get the win, after the hosts lost their first match, while NEUFC drew their opening encounter.

Chennaiyin drew first blood with a stunning shot from Raphael in the first 15 minutes. Before the half hour mark, Raphael scored a brace and put Chennayin firmly in the driver's seat. At half-time, Chennaiyin were 2-0 up and NorthEast had a lot of work to do.

As the second half got underway, NorthEast began to find their feet. They won a bunch of free-kicks but unfortunately, were unable to convert any of them. Late into the match, Mohammed Rafi hammered in a third goal and a final nail in NorthEast's coffin. At this point, there was almost no way for the visitors to stage a comeback.

What's next?

While they did manage to get a win against NEUFC, the Super Machans could have a difficult time ahead, as they face some tough opponents in the form of FC Pune City and defending champions ATK.

Sportskeeda's take

It is disheartening to see such insulting acts are prevalent in a football arena, even in the modern day. The authorities must take note of such incidents and nip them in the bud.