Why are Mohun Bagan Hesitant to Travel to Iran? Explaining the Geo-Politics, Escalations and Debunking the Social Media Myths
The leader of a terrorist organisation funded by the country you wanted to go has been assassinated by another country whom the organisation is in direct conflict with. The Government of the country you want to go to has announced a five day mourning for the death of the leader of the terrorist organisation, which has prompted the Prime Minister of the other country to warn the country you want to visit that they can strike anywhere anytime. Even the country you want to visit has hid their Supreme Leader in fear of attacks.
What would you do? Cancel your plans and go somewhere else or risk your life and visit anyway. Hopefully, the former. Now stop imagining, and replace the tourists as the football club Mohun Bagan, the country you want to visit as Iran, the terrorist organisation as Hezbollah and the country the organisation are in conflict with as Israel.
In summary, this is exactly why Mohun Bagan are apprehensive to make this long journey of uncertainty where they risk getting stuck in a conflict at minimum, and in the worst case, themselves losing their lives as victims of war they had nothing to do with.
This article further explores the complicated geopolitics of Israel, Iran, Lebanon, the Hezbollah, the intriguing role of Mohun Bagan's Iranian football opposition Tractor FC in the protest of the imposition of the Persian identity on the Azerbaijani minority in Iran, and finally addressing the historical controversies Mohun Bagan found themselves entangled with when it comes to Asian football and the plethora of rumours being spread in Indian social media from individuals and organisations with vested interests who are using their following to mislead the general public by spreading rumours and vitriol against Mohun Bagan.
Who are Hezbollah and What are their Links to Iran?
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| Flag of Hezbollah |
A look into the history of Lebanon's demographics, their Civil War of 1975, the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979, and the 1982 Israeli Invasion of Lebanon is needed to understand the rise and mission of Hezbollah, which means 'Party of God' in Arabic.
In 1943, the Lebanese National Pact established a power-sharing arrangement between Lebanese Christians and Muslims whereby the President is always a Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim while the Speaker of the National Assembly to be a Shia Muslim.
While this Pact aimed to provide representation to the diverse Lebanese population, it has mostly resulted in the exacerbation of divisions, due to at times skewed power balances and the mismatch of the ideologies of various faiths when it comes to cooperating in policy making.
The Shia Muslims have always felt that they received a lesser share of the pie. They have felt marginalised on the fringes of society. In 1946, the Christian Maronites and the Sunni Muslims occupied 40 and 27 percent respectively, of the highest civilian posts. In contrast, the Shia occupied 3.2 percent.
The Shiites believed that their representation was not proportional to their numerical size. Economically the broader Shia community in Lebanon was very poor. Almost 85 percent lived in the rural region of South Lebanon.
By the 1980s, Shias had become Lebanon's largest single confessional community with almost 1,400,000 people, surpassing the Maronite and Sunni populations, which were each estimated at nearly 800,000 each.
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| Palestinian Fatah fighters in Beirut in 1979 (Courtesy: By Original by Tiamat, Crop, cleanup and re-up by Jaakobou - Own work, via Wikipedia) |
Rising calls for better representation of Shias in the Government in the early 1970s along with the involvement other opportunistic organisations, including the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) based out of Southern Lebanon, led to the Lebanese Civil War in 1975, and it lasted till 1990.
It was during the same time that the Islamic Revolution in Iran happened. In 1979, the resistance led by the Shia cleric Ruhollah Khomeini overthrew the monarchy of Iran and established the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Khomeini saw himself and the movement as a pan-Islamic revolution that goes beyond Iran and the Shia community, and he wanted to spread his his ideology and influence throughout the Middle East. Iran's revolution had its greatest impact in Lebanon, because Lebanon's long-suffering Shias were most receptive to Iran's Islamic revolutionary message.
Also, in 1982, Israel decided to invade Lebanon to eradicate the PLO which was based out of Southern Lebanon, to the South of which lies Israel. Israel, after a successful invasion and a decisive victory over the PLO decided to stay back and occupy Southern Lebanon, which they did till 2000.
The Israelis killed more than one thousand civilian Shias, leading to a mass exodus of Shia refugees to slums in Beirut, which were already highly populated by marginalised poor Shia migrants from Southern Lebanon in search for better economic opportunities.
Now that is a perfect recipe for an organisation with an identity, ideology and associations like Hezbollah to gain popularity. A group of Shia Muslims in Lebanon, suffering from marginalisation, who were already aligned with Iran's revolutionary ideology had become radicalised against the Israelis during the 1982 invasion.
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| The Iranian Revolution of 1979 |
Iran capitalised on that, providing training, funding and weapons to Hezbollah. During its early days, Hezbollah sought to establish an Islamic state in Lebanon similar to Iran. It committed high profile assassinations, suicide attacks and bombings during the War.
After the war ended, due to a multitude of factors including the Ta'if Accord which proposed political reforms to address some of the underlying causes of the conflict, loss of external support after the end of the Cold War, Constitutional reforms which addressed some of the sectarian imbalances and the Amnesty Law of 1991 which covered most crimes committed during the civil war, helping facilitate the transition to peace, Hezbollah's goals started to shift slowly.
Hezbollah established itself as a political party, under pressure from Syria who were involved in the conflict since 1976 and had played a significant role in enforcing the Ta'if Agreement. Hezbollah, along with the mainly leftist and secular groups in the Lebanese National Resistance Front, fought a guerrilla war against Israel during Israel's occupation of Southern Lebanon from 1982 to 2000.
The National Resistance Front militias disarmed in accordance with the Taif Accords, but Hezbollah remained defiant, claiming until all Lebanese soil was liberated and Israel expelled, resistance against occupation would continue.
The fighting culminated during Operation Grapes of Wrath in April 1996 when Israel launched an assault and air-campaign against Hezbollah. The campaign resulted in the deaths of 106 civilian refugees in an aerial bombardment of a United Nations base at Qana.
On 24 May, after the collapse of the SLA and the rapid advance of Hezbollah forces, Israel withdrew its troops from southern Lebanon, more than six weeks before its stated deadline of 7 July. Hezbollah and many other Lebanese considered this to be a victory, and since then its popularity has been boosted in Lebanon.
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| The American embassy in west Beirut, as it appeared before the April 1983 bombing. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. |
After the 2005 elections, Hezbollah held 14 seats (up from eight previously in 2000) in the 128-member Lebanese Parliament. Since Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, and until the conflict arising in July 2006, Hezbollah has used the period of quiet to create the Hezbollah rocket force, which it claims number over 10,000, placing them, according to many reports, in civilian locations, including family homes, crowded residential neighbourhoods and mosques.
Hezbollah are part of Iran's military structure, called the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah in 2006 claimed that Israel had broken a previous deal to release four prisoners of war, and since diplomacy had failed, violence was the only remaining option. "All of Hezbollah's budget, expenses, wages, food, drinks, weapons and rockets are all supplied by the Islamic Republic of Iran," Nasrallah said himself in a public broadcast.
Hezbollah wanted to capture Israeli soldiers and use them for a prisoner swap. They were successful in the first part on 12 July, 2006 when they attacked a patrol of two Israeli Humvees patrolling the border near Zar'it, but Israel declared war.
It is also worth mentioning Israel were looking for a reason to go to war again after the humiliating retreat in 2000, and had already received a green light from the United States Government many months prior to this incident.
The war lasted 34 days which resulted in 1300 Lebanese deaths and 165 Israeli deaths. A UN backed ceasefire agreement was reached which was accepted both by the Hezbollah and Israel once it became apparent that it was difficult for either parties to be defeated successfully. The remains of the two captured soldiers, whose fates were unknown, were returned to Israel on 16 July 2008 as part of a prisoner exchange.
Skirmishes and unrests continued. Hezbollah continued gaining popularity among the Lebanese and has have had significant influence in Lebanese politics over the years. It has also been referred to as a 'state within the state' due to their military strength, which is superior to that of the Lebanese national army itself.
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| Israeli troops invading Lebanon (Courtesy: Michael Zarfati / IDF Spokesperson's Unit via Wikipedia Commons) |
That brings us to the most recent escalations between Israel, Hezbollah and thus Iran which are considered the highest since the 2006 War, starting with the Lebanon pager explosions, which targeted Hezbollah and were widely attributed to Israel, and followed by daily Israeli airstrikes that included assassinations of senior Hezbollah commanders.
Israel stated that its attacks would continue until Israeli citizens in near the northern border could return home safely. The deadliest and most widespread casualties in Lebanon resulted from Israeli airstrikes on 23 September that resulted in at least 558 deaths and more than 1,835 injuries including children, women and paramedics.
During this campaign, IDF forces bombed and destroyed Hezbollah's central command headquarters in Beirut. The following day, Hezbollah confirmed that its leader Hassan Nasrallah had been killed in that airstrike.
On 30 September, Israel informed the United States about its intentions to launch a minor ground offensive into Southern Lebanon. Concurrently, late night, into October 1, Israel began raids into Southern Lebanon.
🚨🇮🇱🇮🇷 JUST NOW: Israel is BOMBING Southern Lebanon with phosphorus rounds. pic.twitter.com/FH51ikcuXp
— Jackson Hinkle 🇺🇸 (@jacksonhinklle) September 30, 2024
The Role of Tractor FC in the Protest against Persian Imposition on Minority Azerbaijanis
The Iranian Republic Government has continually tried to create a single identity by suppressing the ethnic diversity of Iran. Since the formation of the modern nation-state of Iran in 1925 under the Pahlavi regime, Turks, along with other non-Persian ethnic groups such as Kurds, Balochs, Arabs, and Turkmens, have faced systematic oppression and assimilation.
In recent years, minority rights activists engaged in peaceful activism centered around the cultural and linguistic demands, including the right to education in one’s mother tongue, guaranteed by Article 15 of Iran’s Constitution.
Turks are thought to be the largest ethnic minority group in Iran and are believed to comprise 25 to 30 percent of the population. They live mainly in the Azerbaijan region of Iran, which is located in the north and northwest of the country.
The basic demands of minority activists to exercise their cultural and linguistic rights are perceived as threatening and disruptive to Iran’s ongoing assimilatory and racist policies of turning the multinational Iran into a single nation with a single language and single identity.
In his article “The Politics of Football in Iran,” Houchang Chehabi (2006) argues that “the history of football in Iran has been intimately intertwined with politics, both domestic and international.” After the revolution of 1979 when public entertainment in different forms almost “had been banished, attending football matches was one of the few remaining leisure activities for young men.”
In 2010, a group of scholars and human rights activists from Iran, mostly from its Turkish-Azerbaijanian community, wrote an open letter to Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA at the time, and complained about the issue of racism in Iran’s football stadiums.
Tractor FC Fans before a Pro League match. (Courtesy: By Mehrdad elli - Own work, via Wikipedia Commons)
In their letter, they stated that racism in “Iran’s football stadiums against the Azerbaijani team of Tractor-Sazi (Tiraxtur) and its supporters” is directed against more than twenty million people Iran’s Turkish citizens of the country.
In the letter, they argued that the Tiraxtur supporters come from all over Azerbaijan and other Turkic populated areas of Iran who speak [Turkish] as their natural mother language. Consequently, [Turkish] becomes the dominant language of support and encouragement in these stadiums.
It is the language that most intimately expresses Tiraxtur supporters’ feelings of joy, happiness and spiritual elation. And this poses a major challenge to the practice of official racism in Iran where Farsi (the language of Persian ethnic group) is the hegemonic official and national language of an extremely diverse population.
The letter complained about display of racism that targeted Turks throughout the match between Tiraxtur - Pirouzi (currently Persepolis) that was played at Tehran Azadi stadium on July 27th, 2010.
Throughout the game, half of the Pirouzi/Persepolis supporters from one end of the stadium chanted: 'There is no braying from the donkeys!' To this, the other half from the other end of the stadium replied: 'The Turkish donkeys are silent'.
"Tractor’s strong presence and successful performance in the super-league games challenges discourses of Iranian-Persian nationalism and notions of Tehran’s superiority and dominance over regions such as Azerbaijan.
Tractor SC players celebrate after a 2–0 win against Pakhtakor in 2016 AFC Champions League group stage match (Courtesy: By Tasnim News Agency, Wikipedia Commons)
Therefore, racist slogans against Tractor fans in Tehran can be explained as a resentment to Azerbaijan’s counter-hegemonic movement and its challenge to the ethnocentric approach to sport and myth of Perspolis and Esteghlal as Iran’s two most popular national clubs," argues Vahid Rashidi, in his article "Tractor Sazi FC and the Civil Rights Movement of Turks in Iranian Azerbaijan" published in the The International Journal of Sport and Society.
Tracey German (2012) writes that Iran’s Turkish minority rights activists in facing restrictions on exercise of freedom of speech use sport as “an outlet for the expression of their identity and protests at the lack of national identity”.
Tractor Sazi FC provides the Turkish community with an outlet to express their grievances and frustration through “chanting nationalist slogans.” They are demanding the recognition of their existence through guaranteeing their right to education in their mother tongue and broader recognition of minority rights, concerns, and experiences in the country.
"Tractor Sazi FC became a vehicle for Turks in Southern Azerbaijan and Iran to construct and represent an alternative and counter-hegemonic collective subjectivity. This collective subjectivity is filled with symbols, narratives, stories, and slogans that are associated with a sense of homeland pride, language, culture, and politics. It is linked with a set of struggles, experiences, commitments, and aspirations for social change," concludes Rashidi.
The Iranian Republic Government has continually tried to create a single identity by suppressing the ethnic diversity of Iran. Since the formation of the modern nation-state of Iran in 1925 under the Pahlavi regime, Turks, along with other non-Persian ethnic groups such as Kurds, Balochs, Arabs, and Turkmens, have faced systematic oppression and assimilation.
In recent years, minority rights activists engaged in peaceful activism centered around the cultural and linguistic demands, including the right to education in one’s mother tongue, guaranteed by Article 15 of Iran’s Constitution.
Turks are thought to be the largest ethnic minority group in Iran and are believed to comprise 25 to 30 percent of the population. They live mainly in the Azerbaijan region of Iran, which is located in the north and northwest of the country.
The basic demands of minority activists to exercise their cultural and linguistic rights are perceived as threatening and disruptive to Iran’s ongoing assimilatory and racist policies of turning the multinational Iran into a single nation with a single language and single identity.
In his article “The Politics of Football in Iran,” Houchang Chehabi (2006) argues that “the history of football in Iran has been intimately intertwined with politics, both domestic and international.” After the revolution of 1979 when public entertainment in different forms almost “had been banished, attending football matches was one of the few remaining leisure activities for young men.”
In 2010, a group of scholars and human rights activists from Iran, mostly from its Turkish-Azerbaijanian community, wrote an open letter to Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA at the time, and complained about the issue of racism in Iran’s football stadiums.
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| Tractor FC Fans before a Pro League match. (Courtesy: By Mehrdad elli - Own work, via Wikipedia Commons) |
In their letter, they stated that racism in “Iran’s football stadiums against the Azerbaijani team of Tractor-Sazi (Tiraxtur) and its supporters” is directed against more than twenty million people Iran’s Turkish citizens of the country.
In the letter, they argued that the Tiraxtur supporters come from all over Azerbaijan and other Turkic populated areas of Iran who speak [Turkish] as their natural mother language. Consequently, [Turkish] becomes the dominant language of support and encouragement in these stadiums.
It is the language that most intimately expresses Tiraxtur supporters’ feelings of joy, happiness and spiritual elation. And this poses a major challenge to the practice of official racism in Iran where Farsi (the language of Persian ethnic group) is the hegemonic official and national language of an extremely diverse population.
The letter complained about display of racism that targeted Turks throughout the match between Tiraxtur - Pirouzi (currently Persepolis) that was played at Tehran Azadi stadium on July 27th, 2010.
Throughout the game, half of the Pirouzi/Persepolis supporters from one end of the stadium chanted: 'There is no braying from the donkeys!' To this, the other half from the other end of the stadium replied: 'The Turkish donkeys are silent'.
Throughout the game, half of the Pirouzi/Persepolis supporters from one end of the stadium chanted: 'There is no braying from the donkeys!' To this, the other half from the other end of the stadium replied: 'The Turkish donkeys are silent'.
"Tractor’s strong presence and successful performance in the super-league games challenges discourses of Iranian-Persian nationalism and notions of Tehran’s superiority and dominance over regions such as Azerbaijan.
Therefore, racist slogans against Tractor fans in Tehran can be explained as a resentment to Azerbaijan’s counter-hegemonic movement and its challenge to the ethnocentric approach to sport and myth of Perspolis and Esteghlal as Iran’s two most popular national clubs," argues Vahid Rashidi, in his article "Tractor Sazi FC and the Civil Rights Movement of Turks in Iranian Azerbaijan" published in the The International Journal of Sport and Society.
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| Tractor SC players celebrate after a 2–0 win against Pakhtakor in 2016 AFC Champions League group stage match (Courtesy: By Tasnim News Agency, Wikipedia Commons) |
Therefore, racist slogans against Tractor fans in Tehran can be explained as a resentment to Azerbaijan’s counter-hegemonic movement and its challenge to the ethnocentric approach to sport and myth of Perspolis and Esteghlal as Iran’s two most popular national clubs," argues Vahid Rashidi, in his article "Tractor Sazi FC and the Civil Rights Movement of Turks in Iranian Azerbaijan" published in the The International Journal of Sport and Society.
Tracey German (2012) writes that Iran’s Turkish minority rights activists in facing restrictions on exercise of freedom of speech use sport as “an outlet for the expression of their identity and protests at the lack of national identity”.
Tractor Sazi FC provides the Turkish community with an outlet to express their grievances and frustration through “chanting nationalist slogans.” They are demanding the recognition of their existence through guaranteeing their right to education in their mother tongue and broader recognition of minority rights, concerns, and experiences in the country.
Tractor Sazi FC provides the Turkish community with an outlet to express their grievances and frustration through “chanting nationalist slogans.” They are demanding the recognition of their existence through guaranteeing their right to education in their mother tongue and broader recognition of minority rights, concerns, and experiences in the country.
"Tractor Sazi FC became a vehicle for Turks in Southern Azerbaijan and Iran to construct and represent an alternative and counter-hegemonic collective subjectivity. This collective subjectivity is filled with symbols, narratives, stories, and slogans that are associated with a sense of homeland pride, language, culture, and politics. It is linked with a set of struggles, experiences, commitments, and aspirations for social change," concludes Rashidi.
Addressing Mohun Bagan's Historical Controversial Campaigns in Asia
The 1997-98 Mohun Bagan Squad which won their maiden NFL title.
Mohun Bagan found itself in Asia for the third time, after 1987 and 88/89, in the 1994/95 Asian Club Championship. In the preliminary rounds, they defeated Club Valencia of Maldives 7-1, and Ratnam SC of Sri Lanka 5-1. They got a bye in the First Round and faced Thai Farmers Bank in the Second Round. The First Leg was held in Bangkok, a match Mohun Bagan lost 4-0.
It was around the same time that there was a spread of the bubonic and pneumonic plague in the South Central and Western Regions of India. The States primarily affected were Maharashtra (488 cases), Gujarat (77 cases), Karnataka (46 cases), Uttar Pradesh (10 cases), Madhya Pradesh (4 cases) and New Delhi (68 cases).
There were no confirmed reports of plague from West Bengal, as the disease was thousands of kilometers away, yet the AFC ordered that the 2nd leg cannot be played in Kolkata and ordered it to be played in Malaysia.
Mohun Bagan objected to the ruling and refused to travel. AFC did not hear Bagan's arguements that there was no disease in Kolkata. AFC ejected Mohun Bagan from the competition, awarded Thai Farmers Bank a 3-0 walkover, fined Bagan USD 3000 and banned them from AFC competitions for three years. The ban was soon lifted. Thai Farmers Bank went on to win the AFC Club Championship that season.
Jubilant Mohun Bagan gallery after winning the 1990 Calcutta Football League (Courtesy: Mohun Bagan Club Archives)
Bagan, after a disappointing Asian venture in 1995 where they were eliminated due to the away goals rule in the first round after they drew 2-2 in aggregate to Club Valencia, again found themselves in the Asia in the 1999/00 AFC Asian Club Championship.
In the first leg, Bagan earned a hard fought two legged victory over Bangladeshi club Muktijoddha Sangsad. They faced then Japanese giants Jubilo Iwata. Japan after immense investment into grassroots had became one of the best countries in Asian football, and their teams were in all terms superior to the best clubs from India.
Expectedly, Mohun Bagan had to face an embarrassing 8-0 trouncing in Japan in the first leg on 9th October, 1999. A comeback was impossible. The second leg was scheduled in 16th October during the auspicious period of the Durga Puja.
Moreover, there were issues regarding security arrangements for the match which would attract heavy crowds during the grand festival. Thus, it was mutually agreed between Mohun Bagan and Jubilo that their encounter would be limited to a single leg and Jubilo progressed on to the next rounds. This again angered the AFC and Bagan were fined an undisclosed amount.
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| The 1997-98 Mohun Bagan Squad which won their maiden NFL title. |
Mohun Bagan found itself in Asia for the third time, after 1987 and 88/89, in the 1994/95 Asian Club Championship. In the preliminary rounds, they defeated Club Valencia of Maldives 7-1, and Ratnam SC of Sri Lanka 5-1. They got a bye in the First Round and faced Thai Farmers Bank in the Second Round. The First Leg was held in Bangkok, a match Mohun Bagan lost 4-0.
It was around the same time that there was a spread of the bubonic and pneumonic plague in the South Central and Western Regions of India. The States primarily affected were Maharashtra (488 cases), Gujarat (77 cases), Karnataka (46 cases), Uttar Pradesh (10 cases), Madhya Pradesh (4 cases) and New Delhi (68 cases).
There were no confirmed reports of plague from West Bengal, as the disease was thousands of kilometers away, yet the AFC ordered that the 2nd leg cannot be played in Kolkata and ordered it to be played in Malaysia.
Mohun Bagan objected to the ruling and refused to travel. AFC did not hear Bagan's arguements that there was no disease in Kolkata. AFC ejected Mohun Bagan from the competition, awarded Thai Farmers Bank a 3-0 walkover, fined Bagan USD 3000 and banned them from AFC competitions for three years. The ban was soon lifted. Thai Farmers Bank went on to win the AFC Club Championship that season.
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| Jubilant Mohun Bagan gallery after winning the 1990 Calcutta Football League (Courtesy: Mohun Bagan Club Archives) |
Bagan, after a disappointing Asian venture in 1995 where they were eliminated due to the away goals rule in the first round after they drew 2-2 in aggregate to Club Valencia, again found themselves in the Asia in the 1999/00 AFC Asian Club Championship.
The Current Situation for Mohun Bagan and the Rising Sensationalism in Indian Football Social Media
JUST IN: 🇮🇱🇮🇷 Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu says Israel will free the people of Iran.
— BRICS News (@BRICSinfo) September 30, 2024
"When Iran is finally free—and that moment will come a lot sooner than people think—everything will be different." pic.twitter.com/jWXuBOJHwD
This brings us to today. Mohun Bagan's match against Tractor FC is scheduled to be played at the Home Ground of Tractor FC in Tabriz, which is situated at a 6 hour ride from the capital of Iran, Tehran.
In the light of the recent escalations between Israel and the Hezbollah, which are at an all time high since 2006 Lebanon War, which was the first of the many Israel-Iran Proxy Conflicts (Iranian Revolutionary Guards directly assisted Hezbollah fighters in their attacks on Israel), the 35 players of Mohun Bagan have brought forward their apprehension to travel to Iran to the Bagan management at such a sensitive time when the Israeli PM has open said he can attack Iran anytime anytime.
The Bagan management forwarded their concerns to the Asian Football Confederation and it ha not been known whether or what the AFC has replied. As of now, the Mohun Bagan team, who were originally planned to directly travel from Bengaluru after their game against Bengaluru FC directly to Tehran, now have travelled back to Kolkata and have abandoned their plans to go to Iran.
Among this entire situation, various individuals and organisations from among rival fans, and more surprisingly among the Bagan faithful itself have started spreading straight up lies to demean the club and put this sensible decision from club into a bad light.
They consider themselves superior to experts who have dedicated their careers to Middle Eastern Politics and are continually maintaining that the recent escalations between Israel, Hezbollah and Iran are the highest since the 2006 War, as well as the Indian Government itself who have issued advisories in the last few months, the latest being in April, requesting Indian Nationals to avoid non-essential travel to Iran.
A line of argument strings from the visit of the Indian Armed Forces Volleyball team to Iran where they won the Silver Medal in World Military Volleyball Championship held in Tehran from 20-23 Sep 2024.
Heartiest Congratulations to the Indian Armed Forces Volleyball team for winning Silver Medal in World Military Volleyball Championship held in Tehran from 20-23 Sep 2024. pic.twitter.com/mgtBECqJzw
— India in Iran (@India_in_Iran) September 23, 2024
As the dates suggest, the competition ended 4 days before the Hezbollah leader Nasrallah was assassinated, after which a five day mourning lasting till 2nd October was declared by Iran, which in turn prompted the stern warnings of possible attacks from the Israeli Government.
Comparisons have been drawn to the Uzbek club Pakhtakor who have travelled to Iran for their Asian Champions League game. To address such a claim, it needs to be understood that just because some club does not consider the situation concerning does not make the concerning situation false.
If Iran's Supreme Leader himself is in hiding, it should be a no brainer that things are not going well down in Iran. Just because someone survived after jumping from a building, does not make jumping from a building a good thing to do.
If Iran's Supreme Leader himself is in hiding, it should be a no brainer that things are not going well down in Iran. Just because someone survived after jumping from a building, does not make jumping from a building a good thing to do.
Another sect of complaints arise from within the Bagan fanbase itself. "Play the Game in the Spirit of the Game", the legendary club motto of Mohun Bagan said to be adopted by Bagan's first President Bhupendra Nath Bose, was used by some to criticise Mohun Bagan's decision to refrain from travelling in uncertain times.
Will such 'revolutionaries' take responsibility if Mohun Bagan gets stuck in any conflict? In case nothing serious happens in Iran over the next 3 days, these same intellectuals would hit back with their lewd comments saying "well nothing happened, the coward Mohun Bagan made an excuse to escape a defeat from Tractor." If you could not predict the escalations which happened between Iran and Israel in 3 days, you have no right to be sure of something what can happen in the next 3 days, understand that.
There is no point in addressing such people who call themselves Indian while simultaneously finding absolutely no issue in endangering their lives. It is easy to write posts on social media sitting from their comfortable rooms tens and thousands of kilometers from the regions of possible conflict, how one should lay their lives for football, meanwhile they themselves will not go to Iran along with the team in such uncertain times. How ironic.
"The situation is alarming and we have an apprehension that the situation could escalate further in next few days."
— Marcus Mergulhao (@MarcusMergulhao) September 29, 2024
-- Mohun Bagan in an email to AFC regarding their AFC Champions League Two clash against Tractor SC in Iran on Wednesday
It sounds quite poetic, but playing football is not something a player should be putting themselves to be possibly stuck in conflict at best and at worst, become victims to a war they had nothing to do with.
Such ridiculous spread of vitriol comes as a part of a larger development of rising sensationalism, hatred, racism and disgusting commentary in the Indian Football Social Media landscape.
When poor refereeing decisions go in favour of Bagan, the entire footballing twitter starts alleging that Bagan buys referees, meanwhile completely being blind towards the game changing decisions which did not favour the club in the same, next match and historically previous matches.
Beyond Mohun Bagan, there is a lot of increasing racism against the fans of NorthEast United, Kerala Blasters FC, Odisha FC and East Bengal FC. It is disheartening to see such horrible posts on social media.
Such ridiculous spread of vitriol comes as a part of a larger development of rising sensationalism, hatred, racism and disgusting commentary in the Indian Football Social Media landscape.
When poor refereeing decisions go in favour of Bagan, the entire footballing twitter starts alleging that Bagan buys referees, meanwhile completely being blind towards the game changing decisions which did not favour the club in the same, next match and historically previous matches.
Beyond Mohun Bagan, there is a lot of increasing racism against the fans of NorthEast United, Kerala Blasters FC, Odisha FC and East Bengal FC. It is disheartening to see such horrible posts on social media.
Racism and any form of baseless allegations towards any club or its fans have no place in Football, and with Meta (which owns Instagram and Facebook) and Elon Musk (who owns X, formerly Twitter) doing little to nothing to curtail such hateful posts, it only further increases the separations among the countrymen who ideally should be united to appreciate the game of football, and banter be only limited to the events within the game.
The only genuine criticism on part of the Mohun Bagan management in all of this lies in the fact that there has been no official communication to address Mohun Bagan's stance and reasoning for avoiding travel to Iran. It is obvious the situation could have been handled better by the club management when it comes to being transparent with its fans.
When it comes to the stand of the Indian Government in this context, it has taken a neutral approach and thus can see itself as an influential mediator, given its good relationships with both Governments.
#Exclusive | "35 players have written to the club management that they will not be going to Iran to play Tractor FC"
— The Bridge Football (@bridge_football) September 30, 2024
Mohun Bagan SG have cancelled their plans to travel to Iran for their upcoming AFC Champions League Two clash.
🖊️ @Sudipta_Writes https://t.co/51hOKpstOS
When it comes to the stand of the Indian Government in this context, it has taken a neutral approach and thus can see itself as an influential mediator, given its good relationships with both Governments.
"Maintaining strategic balance in this trifecta of interests is increasingly challenging. India’s non-alignment in the region’s political fissures is usually seen in a positive light. Maintenance of this is smart, and any attempt to change the same under any argument, be that of mediation or India’s increasing clout in the global order, would be a mistake," writes Kabir Taneja for the Observer Research Foundation.
There has been a lot of theories regarding the possible repercussions Mohun Bagan can face from AFC for such a decision, from coefficient deductions, fines to multi year bans. That is a concern the Bagan players, management and the majority of sensible Bagan fans are willing to sacrifice, given the safety and security of the proud players who don the Green and Maroon is paramount.
It is hoped that Mohun Bagan fans and the larger Indian Football fraternity will understand the complicated situation and will empathise with the players, think of National security, and not resort to subscribing to the agendas being spread online.
It is hoped that Mohun Bagan fans and the larger Indian Football fraternity will understand the complicated situation and will empathise with the players, think of National security, and not resort to subscribing to the agendas being spread online.
