I-League champions Chennai City FC have lodged an official complaint about one of their players being subjected to racial abuse by the referee during their match against Bashundhara Kings in the Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup in Bangladesh.

The alleged incident happened in the 23rd minute of the match when CCFC’s Charles Anandraj was fouled by Bashundhara’s Emon Mahmud. Their Japanese midfielder Katsumi Yusa then tried to convince the Sri Lankan referee Lakmal Weerakkody to book Mahmud and was snubbed by the official.

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“Katsumi simply asked the referee whether the foul was a yellow card offence or not. Weerakkody lost his cool and told him ‘Mind your own busines you Chinese. Do you know your origins or where you come from? This isn’t China, this is Bangladesh. You don’t know or make the rules here.’ That’s when Katsumi lost it,” CCFC chief operations officer Ingulab Ranganathan was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

This led to heated exchange between the player and the referee, who gave Yusa marching orders and the game started after an 14 minute delay.

Their coach Akbar Nawas and Bashundhara coach Oscar Bruzon were also sent to the stands in the added time of the first half following a fracas over the latter asking for a red card to a CCFC player for a dangerous challenge.

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CCFC, who were ultimately down to nine men by full-time, lost the match 3-2 and are out of contention for a semi-final berth.

Gokulam, Mohun Bagan stay alive

CCFC could, however, dash the chances of Gokulam Kerala whom they face next in their last Group B encounter.

Gokulam held Malaysia’s Terengganu FC to a 0-0 draw in the day’s other match to stay in the second position in the group. The I-League team had defeated Bangladesh Premier League champions Bashundhara 3-1 in their opening match.

In Group A, Mohun Bagan registered a comfortable 2-0 win over Maldives’ TC Sports Club thanks to goals from defender Daneil Cyrus and forward Salva Chamorro.