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The I-League match between Bengaluru FC and Mumbai FC turned ugly at the Kanteerva Stadium in Bangalore on Tuesday night and resulted in one fan getting injured. Tempers flared when local lad and Mumbai FC player Amoes Do made his way up to the West Block A stand to confront a section of the home fans.
The fixture has always been one of high tension ever since Bengaluru FC’s first season last year. The home fans and Mumbai FC coach Khalid Jamil don’t exactly have a good relationship, as was evident as soon as he stepped on the pitch with chants directed at him.
Mumbai had taken the lead in the 67th minute through Rahul Bheke when he nodded home from a corner. But Bengaluru soon equalized when substitute Robin Singh scored in the 88th minute.
Khalid Jamil fakes injury after bottle thrown from crowd hits player’s dugout
That was when a water bottle was thrown from the upper stand at the Mumbai FC dugout. Although the bottle bounced off the roof of the dugout and missed Jamil, the Mumbai coach was seen lying on the ground feigning injury.
The match was stopped for a few minutes as stewards and the referees deliberated on the situation while the physio attended to Jamil, who eventually got up with his head heavily bandaged.
Five minutes of time was added on and the match also saw Robin Singh get sent off for elbowing Mumbai goalkeeper Sanjiban Ghosh. The last few minutes were played with stadium security and police on high alert until the referee blew the full-time whistle.
Unfortunate that Mumbai have a guy like Jamil as coach: Bengaluru coach Ashley Westwood
After the game, when video replays of the bottle incident were shown at the press conference, Jamil said: ”You observed that I didn't get hit, then I don't want to say anything. You saw that the crowd was indeed provoking us and then I'm being accused of making it an act of a drama.”
“There shouldn't be any discrimination like black or white and then Mumbai or Bengaluru. It's not right for fans to do such things.”
Bengaluru FC coach Ashley Westwood was clearly disgusted with his counterpart’s behaviour throughout the match. Jamil was also in no mood to shake hands after the game even though Westwood came up to him.
Westwood said: “One word would be ‘comedy’. The match commissioner saw it all and I even have a video where it's clear that he wasn't hit by anything.
“Feigning an injury and going against the crowd is something I have never seen in professional football.
“A team is what the coach is like and it's unfortunate that Mumbai have employed a guy like him.”
"Even our fans need to behave. Though Jamil didn't get hit, a fan did try to throw a bottle at him. We will address this through the club," Westwood concluded.
Mumbai FC’s Amoes Do confronts home fans after final whistle
After the game, Mumbai’s Amoes Do, who was a Bengaluru FC player last season, made his way up to the upper tier known as West Block A. Words were exchanged and things got out of hand even though many Bengaluru FC fans tried to make sure there wasn’t a scene.
The police eventually came to disperse the crowd and resorted to a lathi charge in which one Bengaluru FC fan was injured in the melee and was seen holding his face. Amoes Do also initially took a hit with the police not realizing he was a player from Mumbai FC.
Bengaluru FC CEO Parth Jindal later tweeted that a report would be filed and action would be taken to ensure this doesn’t happen again. There was also a security lapse when Mumbai FC fans allegedly made their way to West Block A to instigate the home fans even though they did not have tickets to be there in the first place.
