JOIN USThree players and an official of 515 Army Base Workshop were handed a six-month suspension by the Bangalore District Football Association (BDFA) on Monday after they were found guilty of assaulting a referee during their ‘C’ Division clash against Bangalore Eagles.
After holding a disciplinary committee meeting here, BDFA said in a statement that players Mahesh, Lourdanathan and Lokesh and official Tony were found to have verbally abused referee Maria Joseph during a fracas that broke out towards the end of their match against Eagles on June 14.
Tension erupted when referee Joseph awarded a penalty to Eagles two minutes from time -- 58th minute as the match is played for 60 minutes regulation time. With scores locked at 0-0 and Army Base in desperate need of a point, they surrounded Joseph and vehemently protested against the spot-kick.
With Joseph not budging and sticking by his decision, fans from the stands too jumped on to the pitch that resulted in ugly scenes. Left with no option, BDFA decided to abandon the match which will now be replayed on an yet to be confirmed date.
According to sources, the referee, in his report to the Disciplinary Committee, accused the quartet of verbally abusing him and obstructing normal passage of play.
Monday’s results: Bangalore Blues: 2 (Sudhamkar 12th, Naveen 18th) bt Bangalore Wanderers: 0 (Sudhamkar 12th, Naveen 18th); Banglore Eagles: 8 (Manikandan 8th, 11th, Sathish Kumar 16th, 25th, 40th, 56th, Sunil 33rd, Shaphan Stephen D 47th) bt New Lucky Star: 0; 515 Army Base Workshop: 0 drew with Ambedkar: 0.