KOCHI: Questions are being raised about the growing unruly behaviour of Kerala Blasters fans after FC Goa lodged a complaint with the Indian Super League (ISL) and the Blasters management over an incident in which one of its technical staff members was hit by a stone while overseeing the warm-up of substitute players during the match between the two teams on November 13.
This is the third time that fans of the Kochi-based team are in the news for the wrong reason. In a tweet, FC Goa sought an inquiry into the incident. “The club has reported an incident to the league and the home team regarding the safety of the club staff where a member of the technical team was hit by a stone while helping the substitute players warm up. FC Goa has requested the Kerala Blasters’ management to conduct an inquiry into the matter,” FC Goa said.
The Goan team said the safety of supporters is their paramount concern. “The club has highlighted particularly the issues faced in the ‘Away Stand’ which had a large presence of home fans, leading to unsavoury incidents which the club believes could have been easily avoided. The safety of our supporters remains one of our paramount concerns.”
Kerala Blasters officials were unavailable for comment when TNIE reached out to them. Meanwhile, the police said they have not received any complaints of stone pelting from either Goa FC or Kerala Blasters. “We are not aware of the stone-pelting incident at the stadium. If we receive a complaint, we will conduct a probe,” an officer with Kochi city police said.
In an earlier incident, during the match between Kerala Blasters and ATK Mohun Bagan on October 16, a 35-year-old man groped a woman police officer on duty at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium. The incident occurred at around 8.30pm during half-time. A Kottayam native who resides in Bengaluru was arrested in the incident, where he allegedly misbehaved with the civil police officer deployed at one of the pavilions.
In another incident involving police, at the November 13 game, a police officer was allegedly assaulted by five fans after the former asked them to vacate the stadium. Dhanesh Raj, a CPO with the district headquarters, was beaten up by five youngsters. Though police have taken Steyon Paulson, 21, of Nayarambalam into custody, the other four are still at large.