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What’s the story?
Edu Bedia, midfielder from the Indian Super League’s (ISL) FC Goa outfit has taken to his social media to express his annoyance towards the All India Football Federation (AIFF) after three of his teammates were given a ban by the governing body.
As a result, the forces at Goa seem to have landed themselves in some trouble, as they prepare for their contest against East Bengal, having only eight players available to start the game.
In case you didn’t know…
During the Super Cup quarter-final clash between Jamshedpur FC and FC Goa that unfolded last week, the Disciplinary Committee of the AIFF was compelled to get involved following the sending off of six players by the referee, courtesy their halftime brawl.
After all the drama during FC Goa’s 5-1 victory over their ISL nemesis, six players were handed bans, out of which three play for Goa. Subrata Paul, Haitian Kervens Belfort and Anas Edathodika werethe Jamshedpur plaayers who saw red, while Brandon Fernandes, Bruno Pinheiro and Sergio Marin were sent off from Goa.
The heart of the matter
Edu Bedia expressed his frustration and anger towards the provocative decision of the AIFF to ban his fellow mates, via his Instagram account, where he mocked the authoritative body by displaying a picture entailing emoticons of a clown and a circus tent, along with the message ‘Welcome to Super Cup’.
The former FC Barcelona B midfielder has tagged the Indian Super Cup to be a ‘circus’ following the Federation handing out bans to his colleagues at the Virat Kohli co-owned franchise.
After having received the bans, Bruno Pinheiro, Sergio Juste and Brandon Fernandes will have no choice but to spectate their team’s semi-final fixture against East Bengal on April 16 from the stands. The trio of banned footballers could also potentially be sitting out during the final of the Hero Super Cup that is to be held on April 20, should Goa succeed in their endeavours against East Bengal on Monday.
What’s next?
The bans from AIFF are in addition to the involuntary suspension from the red cards that the players received on April 12, which ensures that all the banned players miss out on a total of three fixtures. This leaves coach Derrick Pereira in a fix to start eleven players against East Bengal in his team’s encounter against the gold and reds, as three of his squad members are out due to suspension and four of his regulars will be unavailable because of injuries.
Author’s take
Edu Bedia certainly is not the first to criticise or take a jab at the AIFF or the Indian Super Cup. With five players out on suspension, four injured and two released, FC Goa will have only eight players available for their battle versus East Bengal. IT will be interestig to see how the Gaurs deal with this problem.
