Saif Sporting coach Andres Cruciani attacked the assistant referee during the match against North Baridhara in Bangladesh Premier League football. The disciplinary committee of Buff has given the Argentinian coach financial fines and sanctions before the week of that incident.
Saif Sporting beat North Baridhara by a big margin of 7-0 on July 26 in BPL. That match was the record for the biggest margin of victory in the tournament. But beyond the goal, the match made headlines when the coach punched the referee.
In the 39th minute of the match against Baridhara, Cruciani got into an argument with assistant referee Russell Mahmud protesting a referee’s decision. At one point Cruciani lost his temper and punched the assistant referee. Then he was shown a red card and sent to the dressing room.
A few weeks after the incident, on Tuesday (August 02), Buff’s disciplinary committee punished Saif’s coach after investigating the incident. The disciplinary committee of Buff has given him a fine of one lakh taka and banned him from all tournaments organized by Buff for the next 6 months. Apart from Saif, Cruciani was also a one-time coach of Dhaka Abahani. He served as the head coach of Bangladesh national team from 2005 to 2006.
Cruciani, Baridhara officials also attacked the referees in that match. North Baridhara assistant manager Jahangir Alam was banned for 50 thousand and one year, manager Noor Hossain and footballer Sujan Biswas were banned for six months along with 25 thousand rupees. Besides, the club was fined one lakh rupees.
