Indian Super League (ISL) Shield winners of last season, Mohun Bagan Super Giants earned direct entry into the group stage of the revamped AFC Champions League Two, Asia's second-tier club competition.
Their campaign kicked off brightly on September 17 with a 2-0 home win over Turkmenistan's Ahal FK at the Salt Lake Stadium, courtesy of goals from Jason Cummings and Sahal Abdul Samad. Buoyed by this result, the Mariners sat second in the group behind Sepahan, who had thrashed Al-Hussein 3-0. Yet, the away leg against the four-time Iranian champions reportedly loomed in doubt as a geopolitical minefield.
In a latest update, it is said that Mohun Bagan Super Giants (MBSG) has been officially "considered to have withdrawn" from the 2025-26 AFC Champions League Two after the club refused to travel to Isfahan, Iran, for their crucial Group C clash against Sepahan SC on September 30, 2025. This abrupt exit not only voids MBSG's remaining fixtures including an October 21, 2025 home game against Jordan's Al-Hussein SC, but also hands Sepahan a 3-0 walkover victory, reshaping Group C standings where the Iranians now lead with maximum points.
Reports revealed that six foreign players including Australian forward Cummings, Spanish defender Hector Yuste, and British midfielder Jack Price flatly refused to board the flight, citing explicit travel advisories from their governments warning of “arbitrary detention, instability, and absence of emergency consular support” in Iran. India, Australia, the UK, and Spain had all issued “do not travel” alerts amid Iran's ongoing shadow war with Israel, including recent missile exchanges that heightened regional volatility.
Asian Football Confederation invoked Article 5.2 citing MBSG’s failure to report for the match: Report
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has reportedly invoked Article 5.2 of its competition regulations, citing the club's failure to report for the match. The statement reportedly stated, “the Asian Football Confederation confirms that India’s Mohun Bagan Super Giant are considered to have withdrawn from the AFC Champions League Two 2025/26 competition after the club failed to report to Isfahan, Islamic Republic of Iran, for their Group C fixture against Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan SC on 30 September 2025.” As the 136-year-old Mariners' Asian dream crumbles, this year marks the second consecutive season MBSG has been ousted from the tournament on similar grounds.
Reports claim that MBSG had appealed to the AFC to relocate the fixture to a neutral venue, pointing to precedents like Iranian clubs' matches shifted out due to similar tensions. “We've seen games moved for safety before; why not this time?” a club insider reportedly lamented anonymously. The AFC, however, reportedly stood firm, echoing its stance from last season when MBSG similarly boycotted a trip to Tabriz against Tractor SC amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, resulting in a withdrawal without further sanction.
