Mohun Bagan kicked out from Asian Champions League 2 after refusing to travel to Iran

Mohun Bagan was eliminated from the AFC Champions League Two by the Asian Football Confederation for neglecting to show up for a scheduled away game in Iran. On October 2, Mohun Bagan canceled their trip to Tabriz for a match against Tractor SC, citing the country's unstable security conditions.

Due to their failure to travel to Iran earlier in October, Indian football powerhouse Mohun Bagan has been eliminated from the Asian Football Confederation Champions League Two. The AFC declared that Mohun Bagan's participation in every tournament match will be regarded as a forfeit.

A statement said that, "In accordance with Article 5.2 of the AFC Champions League Two 2024/25 Competition Regulations (the “Competition Regulations”), the Asian Football Confederation confirms that India’s Mohun Bagan Super Giant are considered to have withdrawn from the AFC Champions League Two competition after the club failed to report to Tabriz, Islamic Republic of Iran, for their AFC Champions League Two Group A fixture against Tractor FC on October 2, 2024."

The statement added that, "Consequently, all matches played by Mohun Bagan Super Giant are cancelled and considered null and void in accordance with Article 5.6 of the Competition Regulations. For the avoidance of doubt, no points and goals in the club’s matches shall be taken into consideration when determining the final rankings in Group A pursuant to Article 8.3 of the Competition Regulations. The matter will now be referred to the relevant AFC Committee(s) as appropriate for their decision(s).”

Why did Mohun Bagan not travel to Iran for the match?

Mohun Bagan has reportedly appealed to the AFC, expressing their players' reluctance to make the journey to Iran and begging for the governing organization to postpone the match or shift it to a neutral site.

Mohun Bagan made the choice not to fly to Iran when the West Asian country unleashed a campaign of ballistic missile launches targeting Israel. This operation was a reaction to Israel's murder of key Axis of Resistance figures, such as Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary general of Hezbollah. Iran launched the missile attack the night before Mohun Bagan's AFC Champions League Two match.