Bhaichung Bhutia expresses surprise after being red-carded on Tuesday. Picture by Santosh Ghosh

Calcutta: Bhaichung Bhutia’s mouth rather than feet did the talking on Tuesday when he alleged that the CFL Premier Division title has already been decided in favour of “one particular team.”

Bhaichung, who had scored the first-leg winner against East Bengal, was heavily marked on Tuesday and didn’t conjure up the same magic at the Salt Lake Stadium. He was red-carded following an altercation with the referee, Debashish Mishra, and then flouted the rule by not leaving the park.

Mohun Bagan won the return leg as well through Ndem Guy Herve’s 49th-minute goal. According to the iconic striker, the green-and-maroon side has been treated “disgracefully” by match officials throughout the tournament and it only goes on to “confirm” his apprehension that they would not allowed to emerge champions this time around.

Bhaichung didn’t mention anybody’s name in his extraordinary outburst after the match, but there is no point guessing who his targets are.

Mohammedan Sporting have already accused the IFA of favouring East Bengal in transfer disputes over some players. Similarly, Mohun Bagan officials have contended that the Premier Division schedules have been fixed to help East Bengal’s cause.

“Before even a ball was kicked, this league has been decided in favour of one particular team. All I feel is that there are efforts to ensure that only one team wins it. This is a disgraceful situation,” Bhaichung claimed after the win over East Bengal.

“We haven’t got a single favour from the referees. Throughout this meet, they have denied us genuine goals, penalties and what not. We often lament that the game is going downwards here… these match officials and their poor supervision are largely responsible for the current state of affairs in Indian football,” the India captain remarked.

He even called for officials from outside to supervise derby clashes in local tournaments. Bhaichung felt that it would be a “miracle” if Mohun Bagan manage to defend the title. “Probably God has already determined that we have to lose it,” he said.

Bhaichung’s acerbic notes could be traced back to an 87th-minute incident of Tuesday’s match when his appeal for penalty was bluntly rejected by the referee. East Bengal ’keeper Rajat Ghosh Dastidar challenged him in a 50-50 situation but Mishra waved play-on. Within seconds, he chanced upon a similar situation, but this time, Mishra found him guilty of shoving the ’keeper.

This sparked off a strong reaction from Bhaichung, who exchanged a few words with the referee and even pushed him. Mishra promptly ordered him to leave the ground, but Bhaichung watched the rest of the match sitting on the players’ bench. The fourth referee, Biswajit Guha, asked him to leave the ground, but it produced no result.

Both IFA secretary Subrata Dutta and match commissioner Chittaranjan Das Majumdar refused to comment, but what Bhaichung did on Tuesday was clear transgression of the rule. It remains to be seen if the IFA has enough courage to punish India’s No. 1 money-spinner of the game.