Mohun Bagan refuse to travel to Iran for AFC tie

Keeping their players' "safety and security" in mind, Mohun Bagan Super Giant have decided against travelling to Iran for their AFC Champions League 2 match against Tractor FC owing to the existing volatile situation in the west Asian nation.

Mohun Bagan SG were scheduled to play Tractor FC on Wednesday and were to fly directly from Bengaluru after their Indian Super League fixture against Bengaluru FC on Sunday.

But the Indian heavyweight club, instead, opted to return to Kolkata after their players expressed unwillingness to play in Iran at a time when the country has announced a state of mourning for five days following the death of a prominent general in its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in an Israeli air strike.

"Our 35 registered players, including seven foreigners, wrote to club that they don't want to go to Iran now. So we tagged their letters and wrote to the AFC, asking them to either reschedule the match or move the game to a neutral venue," a Mohun Bagan source told PTI on Monday from Kolkata.

"We have decided to not travel to Iran keeping our players' safety and security in mind, because that is paramount. We have also written to the ministry of external affairs as their advisory states that you can go to Iran or Israel on your own responsibility," the source added.

"We had our flight tickets booked and the hotel accommodation was also arranged, but we just couldn't risk our players' safety when the country is in a state of mourning."

The club sought clarity on the issue from the Asian Football Federation, the game's continental body.

Mohun Bagan Super Giant were slated to face Tractor FC in their second game of the 2024-25 AFC Champions League 2 at the Yadegar-e Emam Stadium in Iran's Tabriz. In their first match of Group A, Mohun Bagan Super Giant had played out a goalless draw against Tajikistan's FC Ravshan. Tractor FC lead the standings following a 3-0 win over Qatar's Al-Wakrah SC.