The U-17 District Sports Office (DSO) final between Don Bosco (Matunga) and Navy Children School (Colaba), played at the MSSA ground at Azad Maidan on Thursday, was delayed because Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) officials objected to presence of coach Sudip Gangopadhyay in the Navy Children technical area.
The MSSA disciplinary committee had decided to suspend Gangopadhyay because he argued with a referee in an U-14 match on August 11. The match started only after he agreed to sit in the stands. About 15 minutes were lost.
Later, Gangopadhyay said, “I do not know how they (MSSA) can take action as it is only a private body, not a regulatory one. At the most, they can ask the school not to send a particular coach with the team. They cannot take any such action in DSO games.”
Gangopadhyay, who is a commander in the Indian Navy, added, “In that game on August 11, I made a minor comment about a referee’s decision. That’s part and parcel of the game. The linesman reacted by making derogatory statements about the navy and the services. His comments were completely uncalled for. He should not have done that in front of the children. But the MSSA took action against me.
“I asked the referee not to make such comments but he and his colleague stopped the game. As I have an MSSA card, I couldn’t have been accused of infringing the technical area. Also, I did not stop the game, the referees did. Usually, a fourth official deals with such matters, but the MSSA does not even follow such a practice. The school authorities wrote a latter to the MSSA and DSO, explaining their stance,” he further said.
Don Bosco coach Leslie Machado was not happy with the delay. “Our boys had warmed up and were ready to play the game. A delay allows the body to cool down and it is a waste of time as well,” he said.
For the record, Don Bosco won the match 3-0 with Merick Fernandes scoring two in the first-half and Floyd Pereira adding another in the second.
