GANGTOK,: The Sikkim Football Association (SFA) has imposed a two-match ban on Sikkim Brotherhood FC in the ongoing SFA ‘A’ Division S-League 2024-25 for allegedly manhandling the match referees “despite giving in writing” not to repeat such offences.
The decision was taken during an emergency meeting of the SFA on Monday following the alleged incident that took place in the last match between Brotherhood FC and Sikkim Boys FC at Paljor Stadium.
The Sikkim Brotherhood FC players manhandled the referees who were brought from Assam especially on the request of the clubs, said the SFA, the organisers of the ‘A’ Division S-League. The alleged incident took place after the final whistle even though the Brotherhood FC had won the match 3-0.
“The centre referee was charged by all the players of Brotherhood FC which was led by their coach and assistant coach. The centre referee from Assam was emotionally hurt and came out of the field literally weeping. The police force present in the field rushed to the rescue of the referees. Despite police presence, the players & officials of Brotherhood FC continued their argument even with the police personnel,” said the SFA.
The association added that referees from Sikkim had faced similar manhandling from the club players and officials during the league matches.
The referee committee had in writing informed the SFA that under such circumstances they are unable to continue their assignment in Gangtok.
Earlier, when the first incident happened all the clubs had given SFA & the referee committee that they will play the game in the spirit of the game duly observing the footballing norms and under no circumstances they would manhandle the referees and use abusive language, said the SFA. The association also released a document signed by all the eight clubs in this regard.
“After extensive discussions, the SFA unanimously took the decision to impose a two-match ban on Sikkim Brotherhood FC for manhandling the referees despite giving in writing that they will not repeat. The affected matches will be against Sang Mustang and Gangtok Himalayan once the league resumes in near future. Being a local league, as per norms laid down, SFA is not bound to import referees for these matches,” said the SFA.
To ensure the integrity and smooth operation of the league moving forward, the SFA are working out to engage referees from Kolkata, West Bengal. However, the league’s resumption will depend on the availability of these referees and the ground, said the association.