SOCCER: India's Mohun Bagan suspended, fined over $100,000 for refusing to visit Iran

Indian football club Mohun Bagan Super Giant have been banned from Asian Football Confederation (AFC) competitions and fined more than $100,000 for refusing to travel to Iran for an Asian Champions League Two match against Sepahan SC in September, the continental governing body said.

In a decision issued on Wednesday, the AFC’s disciplinary and ethics committee ruled that Mohun Bagan will be excluded from the next Asian club competition for which they qualify, with the ban extending through the 2027–28 season.

The Indian champions were fined $50,000 and ordered to pay an additional $50,729 to cover damages and losses incurred by the AFC and Sepahan. The club also forfeited any participation subsidy linked to the continent’s second-tier club tournament.

Mohun Bagan were withdrawn from the competition after declining to travel to Iran for the group-stage fixture, citing concerns over security assurances and the lack of medical insurance coverage. As a result, all of their matches in the tournament were declared null and void by the AFC.

The club had appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), requesting that the match be relocated to a neutral venue. However, CAS rejected their initial request.

“The players decided they can’t take this risk, where lives and their families’ future are at stake. So we have to stand with them,” a senior Mohun Bagan official told Reuters.

The official added that the squad includes five players from Australia, Spain, and the United Kingdom, countries that have advised their citizens against traveling to Iran.

Mohun Bagan also declined to travel to Iran last year for a scheduled match against Tractor SC on October 2, 2024, a day after Iran launched ballistic missiles toward Israel. The club was withdrawn from that tournament as well.

The official said Mohun Bagan are now considering whether to appeal the suspension. -Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Michael Perry/Reuters