ISL 2016: Post-match brawl mars Atletico de Kolkata's final progress
Atletico de Kolkata made their way through to the final of the ISL, but after the final whistle was blown in the second leg of their semifinal against Mumbai City FC, there were some ugly scenes involving a few players from both sides.
The last action of the game was Sena Ralte making an awful challenge on Juan Belencoso, incensing the Spaniard. The referee had blown the final whistle when people from both benches got involved. Belencoso vented his anger, by landing a headbutt to the face of Mumbai City midfielder, Leo Costa.
That absolutely enraged the Mumbai players and Costa’s fellow Brazilians Cafu and Thiago Cunha got involved as the physical altercations began to get ugly. Cafu slapped Belencoso before Cunha got involved in the most embarrassing manner possible.
He slapped Belencoso on the face, before lashing out a kung-fu kick on Lalrindika Ralte. He didn’t stop there as he slapped Pritam Kotal, giving the Indian right-back a bloody eye.
Cunha’s actions were disgraceful as he indulged in violence on the field, and then ran away and took up a boxer’s sparring position.
The scenes were reminiscent of what happened in last year’s final. FC Goa’s owners Dattaraj Salgaonkar and Shrinivas Dempo had alleged that Chennaiyin FC’s captain Elano Blumer had assaulted both of them.
While the Brazilian denied the allegations, he was kept in custody for a couple of hours at a Goa police station.
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