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The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Monday confirmed that the Indian Super League (ISL) club Mohun Bagan Super Giant have been disqualified from the AFC Champions League Two as they did not field their team against Iranian club Tractor FC.
The Kolkata-based club refused to travel to Iran citing security issues due to the ongoing Israel-Hezbollah conflict and have been disqualified from the tournament. The conflict in West Asia escalated after Iran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles towards targets in Israel and the United States military coordinated closely with the Israeli Defence Forces to help defend Israel against the attack. This came days after Israel launched a decisive blow to Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, killing its Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah in the airstrike. Earlier in July, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed inside Tehran. Iran had vowed to take revenge on both occasions. Both Israel and Iran have warned of further action against each other, raising concerns over the situation in the region. AFC released a statement and said that Mohun Bagan are considered to have withdrawn from the prestigious tournament under Article 5.2 of the AFC Champions League Two 2024/25 Competition Regulations. "In accordance with Article 5.2 of the AFC Champions League Two 2024/25 Competition Regulations (the "Competition Regulations"), the Asian Football Confederation (the "AFC") confirms that India's Mohun Bagan Super Giant are considered to have withdrawn from the AFC Champions League Two competition after the club failed to report to Tabriz, Islamic Republic of Iran, for their AFC Champions League Two Group A fixture against Tractor FC on October 2, 2024," AFC stated. It added that all the matches of the Kolkata-based club have been cancelled and considered null and void. "Consequently, all matches played by Mohun Bagan Super Giant are cancelled and considered null and void in accordance with Article 5.6 of the Competition Regulations. For the avoidance of doubt, no points and goals in the club's matches shall be taken into consideration when determining the final rankings in Group A pursuant to Article 8.3 of the Competition Regulations," the statement added. Mohun Bagan was placed in Group A of the AFC Champions League Two along with Tractor FC, Al-Wakrah FC and Ravshan Kulob. In the tournament, Mohun Bagan played just one game against Ravshan, where they ended the match with a 0-0 draw. (ANI)
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