Indian football took a major hit when the Asian Football Confederation punished Mohun Bagan Super Giant hard.
Because of this, the AFC’s ethics panel slapped the ISL titleholders with exclusion from Asia-wide tournaments for two full seasons – on top of that, they’ve got to pay steep fines.
The penalty comes after Mohun Bagan didn’t go to Iran for their game against Sepahan SC in the AFC Champions League Two 2025–26 group round, set for September.
Although the Kolkata team earned a spot by claiming the 2024–25 ISL title, they skipped the match.
At their Dec 17 session, the AFC ruled that Mohun Bagan broke Rule 5 – quitting the tournament mid-way. Because of this decision, penalties were handed down by the panel.
Mohun Bagan now owe $50,000 – due within a month. The team can’t play in the next two AFC tournaments, not even in 2027–28.
Instead of rewards, they’ll lose every benefit tied to the AFC Champions League Two, like match payments or win incentives.
Travel cash is gone too. If any money was handed over before, it’s got to go back to AFC by the same deadline.
The AFC told Mohun Bagan to cover USD 50,729 for costs linked to claims from both the AFC itself and Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan FC.
When you add it up, the full cost goes beyond USD 400,000 – roughly ₹3.6 crore. This time marks the second straight year Mohun Bagan skipped a trip to Iran.
Last year, they pulled out of a road game versus Tractor SC in this tournament. Back then, they got booted – but faced no further penalties.
In this situation, Mohun Bagan brought up problems with player safety along with travel paperwork troubles.
The team asked to switch locations, then turned to the sports court for help – only to get turned down in the end.
The recent decision marks a tough penalty from the AFC for an Indian team, so Mohun Bagan won’t play in Asian competitions till 2028–29, no matter what happens locally.
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