U-18 Kolkata Derby turns violent again as fans, player, coach exchange obscenities

IT HAPPENED AGAIN. There was once again violence among fans as the U-18 squads of East Bengal and Mohun Bagan faced each other in the second leg of U-18 I-League (Kolkata-Jamshedpur Zone). 

Even last month, when the two teams faced each other at the East Bengal ground, there was fan violence afterwards. But this time, at the Mohun Bagan Ground, sore sentiments from last month came back to the fore and things went from bad to worse.

Allegedly, taunts and abuses aimed at East Bengal players came out of the Mohun Bagan gallery even before the match began. In the match, an early goal by Jerry Dresenas Pulamte put Bagan ahead. But around the 27th minute, East Bengal's Budhwa Bara brought the Red and Golds back to make it 1-1. Then, around the 40th minute, a goal from Achintya Ghosh sent East Bengal 2-1 up.

Things got violent after that. Stones were thrown into the ground from the gallery. In the stands, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan fans got engaged in scuffles. The police had to go in and break them up. The Bagan fans accused their rival fans of trying to take down a banner. Even though the crowd was small since this was an U-18 match, the police were slow to react. As a result, the match had to be stopped for about 4 minutes before things could be brought under control.

In the second half, the Green and Maroons equalized through a goal scored by Azharuddin Mallick. But in the 80th minute, it was Budhwa Bara again who scored the third goal for East Bengal to clinch the victory; a 3-2 win that has almost secured their passage to the final round of the U-18 I-League.  

The two groups of rival fans fought each other again, and this time policemen mounted on horseback had to be brought in to separate them. But small incidents of scuffles were going on in various parts of the Maidan even an hour after the match was over.

But it wasn't just the fans who were engaging in violence and obsceneties. After the match a picture went viral on social media, showing East Bengal U-18 coach Tarun Dey making an obscene gesture towards the Mohun Bagan fans, and what appears to be Budhwa Bara, the player who scored a brace for East Bengal U-18, exposing himself (or feigning to do so) to taunt the rival fans. 

@greymind43 @MohunBagan @Mohun_BaganAC @AiffMedia @Football_IFA @abpanandatv @twitkolkatatv Ora naki vodro lok ? pic.twitter.com/lxfNNrOYV6

— Mohun Bagan Forum (@MohunbaganForum) December 13, 2015

This was an instance of extremely unprofessional behaviour from the player, and more so from the coach. East Bengal and Mohun Bagan share almost a century of bitter rivalry and all their matches are fraught with tension and rage among the fans. But whenever players have gotten involved in that things have gone from bad to worse. Inciting the crowd in a Kolkata Derby can be borderline suicidal. 

The tension between the fans of these rival clubs has been on the rise since Mohun Bagan won the I-League back in May. East Bengal replied with a 4-0 victory over their arch rivals in September that secured the Calcutta Football League title for them. But the real platform for these two clubs to duel was always going to be the I-League, and the fever over that is rising with each passing day. The I-League first leg encounter between these two clubs is scheduled for 23rd January, and on that day, all this tension may come to a head.