“Sunil Chhetri INSULTED” - Indian Football fans furious at governor’s push on Bengaluru FC captain during Durand Cup victory celebrations

West Bengal governor La. Ganesan Iyer appeared to nudge Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri aside during the Durand Cup 2022 presentation ceremony after Bengaluru FC, led by the latter, beat Mumbai City FC 2-1 in the final.

The governor’s actions didn’t go down well with Indian football fans as a large number of them took to Twitter to voice their displeasure. One user went on to suggest that Sunil Chhetri had been “insulted” by Iyer, while another called it a “shameful act”.

The video itself went viral on various social media platforms overnight, with fans continuing to pour out their disappointment over what took place. The video can be found here.

Some of the fans’ reactions on Twitter are as follows:

Cricket commentator and former Indian international cricketer Aakash Chopra too made his feelings known, describing the incident as “disgraceful”.

Renowned writer and director of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup Joy Bhattacharjya described the incident as “Five seconds that show you everything that's wrong with Indian sport”.

Recently-retired Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa did not hold back either, suggesting that Chhetri deserved “so much better”.

Quite clearly, the Indian sporting fraternity have not taken too kindly to the disrespectful treatment meted out to one of its greatest members ever.

Sunil Chhetri’s Bengaluru FC edge out Mumbai City to win first Durand Cup title

Earlier in the day, goals from Sivashakti and Alan Costa ensured that Bengaluru FC, and Sunil Chhetri, won their first-ever Durand Cup trophy. Simon Grayson’s men put in a strong defensive shift to keep Mumbai City’s attacking wealth away from Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s goal.

Sivashakti did well to lob Mumbai keeper Lachenpa Phurba after Aleksander Jovanovic’s long ball from within the BFC half caused chaos aplenty in the MCFC box. While Apuia managed to pull the Islanders level in the 30th minute after Gurpreet’s parried clearance fell at his feet, Alan Costa would head home in the second half to ensure his team’s victory.

Winning the tournament will see the Blues head into the long ISL season with confidence and more. They are all set to take on NorthEast United in their league opener for their first game at Sree Kanteerava Stadium since they beat ATK 1-0 in the first leg of the 2019-20 ISL semi-final. Whether they can translate the momentum from their first trophy in more than three years into a great season remains to be seen