Mumbai City FC fans did not have the best outing during the Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18’s Maharashtra Derby between Mumbai City and Pune City. The Mumbai City fans were allegedly attacked by the home fans at the Balewadi stadium after a heated exchange between the two. Several videos capturing the ugly brawl between the fans have gone viral on social media.
While there is no evidence of who started the argument, a Mumbai City fan present in the stadium claims that they were attacked by sharp sticks several times. The fan also revealed that incidents like these have been happening in all the ISL 2017-18 matches.
A Mumbai FC fan tweeted a video of the attack, captioning it as:
Total disgrace of Indian football by Pune fans. We Mumbai fans were attacked by broken sharp sticks numerous times. This is been happening in all ISL games. Requirement of Away stands.
Here are a few videos of the ugly brawl:
Total disgrace of Indian football by Pune fans
We Mumbai fans were attacked by broken sharp sticks numerous times. This is been happening in all ISL games.
Requirement of Away stands. @IndianFootball @IndSuperLeague @FCPuneCity @MumbaiCitySC @MumbaiCityFC @PuneCityPolice pic.twitter.com/ihyRk1idbB— Hardik Patel (@frankhardik08) November 29, 2017
Things getting out of hands here we need separate away stands! Away fans being hit by sticks and stones @MumbaiCityFC @FCPuneCity @gauravmodwel @MumbaiCitySC @IndSuperLeague @footballindia_ pic.twitter.com/8mJLEfk7jF
— Rahul Hatle (@im_rahul13) November 29, 2017
Here’s how Mumbai City FC’s Twitter fan page reacted to the incident:
.@IndSuperLeague @FCPuneCity @MumbaiCityFC @indranildasblah Another footage. Damaging banners, standing on the fence. Hooliganism. And if you’d observe, officials just watching.
Football is nothing without fans, and their safety. #MakeAwayStandsMandatoryhttps://t.co/8DkeAIbubj— Mumbai City SC (@MumbaiCitySC) November 29, 2017
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The CEO of Mumbai City FC was quick to respond on the ugly spat as he tweeted –
Fans deserve better. We will look into it.
On our part, let’s be extra nice to all visiting teams. Let’s not have anyone point fingers at us. Let’s show them the Mumbai way. You guys are the best and we couldn’t have asked for better support. We you— Indranil Das Blah (@indranildasblah) November 29, 2017
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Pune City won the home match as the final scoreline read 2-1. The need for away stands intensifies after unfortunate incidents like these. This is not the first time ISL 2017-18 has come in bad light. Earlier, north-eastern women were harassed at Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Chennai during a clash between Chennaiyin FC and NorthEast United FC.
