Unruly Bagan fans attack Churchill players

Churchill Brothers midfielder Ogba Kalu Nnanna was injured when a missile hurled by an irate Mohun Bagan fan hit him as mayhem broke out at the Vidyasagar Krirangan after Friday's I-League match in Basarat.

Minutes after Churchill held Bagan to a 2-2 draw, furious Bagan supporters hurled bricks and bottles and abused the Churchill players.

Hit by a missile on his back, Nnanna lay on the ground even as Churchill goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya got into a scuffle with supporters. Nnanna is reported to be fine now.

Having identified the attacker, local boy Bhattacharya chased him to the stands and was mobbed by hundreds of miffed Bagan fans. But before any untoward incident took place, police intervened and lathi-charged the crowd which became restive after referee S Suresh of Tamil Nadu denied Bagan a penalty when their striker Edeh Chidi was brought down inside the Churchill box.

All hell broke loose when Odafe Onyeka Okolie, who scored two goals in Churchill's draw, was declared the Man-of-the-Match instead of Jose Ramirez Barreto, who too scored two goals, including one from a penalty.

Condemning the incident, Churchill coach Carlos Pereira said he would complain to the AIFF about the unruly crowd behaviour and appeal to stop holding matches in Kolkata.

"If someone had died who would have been responsible? I will complain about this to the federation (AIFF). I would not like to play football anymore here. This is not the first time it happened. This happens here and even Salt Lake. Those people who are doing this are drunk, they are stupid people," a livid Pereira said.

"I have a lot of friends in Kolkata, I've worked here in the past. I love the city. But these things must stop. It happens only in Kolkata," he added.