Three players saw red cards before full-scale brawl broke out among players, officials and fans as Abahani's hopes of reclaiming the Bangladesh Premier League title all but evaporated following a 2-0 defeat against five-time defending champions Bashundhara Kings in a high-octane fixture at the Kings Arena on Friday.

Abahani had come into the match seven points behind league-leaders Mohammedan, who had just registered a win against Police earlier in the day, and six in front of kings, with only five matches left after this crucial fixture. In mid-week, the Sly Blues had lost an eventful Federation Cup final against Kings, with whom they have a long history of rivalry since the latter's introduction in top-flight football seven years ago.

Abahani fans under attack from Kings' fans. Photo: Firoz Ahmed

Faisal Ahmed Fahim, a former Abahani forward, scored two goals in two halves for Kings as Abahani's hopes of a silverware all but ended. Emotions ran high among both sets of players and it all boiled over in stoppage time centring a foul by Kings' Sohel Rana on Abahani substitute Asadul Molla. Other players rushed in and joined the fight, including King's Saad Uddin and Abahani's Shahin Ahammad.

The referee and his assistants tried to intervene but the tension had already rolled over to the dug-outs and the gallery. Following minutes of discussion with his colleagues, referee Bhuban Mohon Tarafder brandished red cards to Kings' Sohel and Saad and Abahani's Shahin. Play resumed a few minutes later and ended soon, ugly scenes continued to unfold at the Kings Arena as the home fans hurled abuse at the Abahani management and players. Saad, meanwhile, had to be restrained from clashing with the Abahani players before police brought the crowd under control. 

The incident that eventually resulted in the brawl. Photo: Firoz Ahmed

The events at the Kings Arena, which has already gained notoriety for crowd trouble and lack of security in its three-year existence, harked back to an infamous brawl between these two teams when they had met in the final of the Federation Cup on November 23, 2018 at the National Stadium in Dhaka.

That match, which Abahani eventually won 3-1, had witnessed perhaps the worst on-field brawl in Bangladesh football this century. Four players – two each from Abahani and Kings – were shown red cards in that match, the video clips of that fight has since been viewed by millions worldwide.

An image from that notorious fight between the two teams seven years ago. Photo: Collected