New Delhi | East Bengal’s Antonio Perosevic will serve a one-match ban after the forward pushed referee Rahul Kumar Gupta in their ISL encounter against NorthEast United. The Croatian has been sanctioned a ban by the All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) disciplinary committee on Tuesday (December 21). The player will now miss East Bengal’s next encounter against Hyderabad FC on Thursday (December 23).
The eighth edition of the Indian Super League (ISL) is being played in Goa due to Covid-19 as the two giants from East collided in Fatorda. NorthEast ran out 2-0 winners in a fiercely contested battle. Second-half goals from V. P. Suhair and Patrick Flottmann settled the contest as East Bengal’s struggle continued in the ISL.
The incident occurred in the 92nd minute of the match as Perosevic went for a challenge on Khassa Camara as the referee tried to caution him. However, the player showed over aggression as he tried to headbutt referee Gupta. The reaction didn’t go unnoticed as the player was shown a direct red card.
A statement from AIFF read, “Perosevic has been reported violating Article 48.1.2 of the AIFF Disciplinary Code.”
The article 50 of the AIFF explains, “Sanctions for serious infringement punishable by an expulsion undertaken against Match Officials.”
The two-time Croatian international has now been given time until Thursday (December 23) to appeal against the sanction. If the appeal is turned down by the AIFF, the player will miss the encounter against Hyderabad FC on December 23. This is not the first time in the current season that a player has been sanctioned; earlier FC Goa's Ortiz had been given a two-match suspension and a fine of INR 50,000 by the AIFF disciplinary committee.
The ISL table doesn’t make good reading for East Bengal as they languish at the bottom of the table with just three points and are the only side yet to register a win in this season of the ISL. Perosevic, who was signed this season, hasn’t made any changes to the fortunes of the Bengal giants as they wait for their first-ever title.
