West Bengal Governor La. Ganesan Iyer has been receiving a lot of flak from sports fans on social media after a video from the post match presentation of the 131st Durand Cup final went viral, in which Ganesan can be seen nudging Indian football legend Sunil Chhetri. In the video, Bengaluru FC captain Chhetri is seen receiving the trophy after his team beat Mumbai City FC 2-1 in the final at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
During the ceremony, Ganesan, who was among the dignitaries presenting the trophy to Chhetri, can be seen putting his hand on the Indian football captain's shoulder, asking him to make space for him as the photographers clicked.
Chhetri can be seen moving away further to his left in order to make space for the Governor. Fans have since criticised Ganesan for trying to seize the moment of glory from one of India's finest footballers ever.
Viral Video: West Bengal Governor Pushes Sunil Chhetri
Some fans recalled the moment after Australia won the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy in Mumbai. At that time Aussie captain Ricky Ponting had received the trophy from then BCCI president Sharad Pawar and immediately asked him to get off the stage as the Australian team wanted to pose with the trophy.
Although there was anger and outrage from certain section of Indian fans at that time because Pawar was pushed off the stage.
But some fans have seen the witty side of things and posted tweets comparing the two incidents:
Bengaluru FC and their talismanic captain Sunil Chhetri won their maiden Durand Cup football tournament title after beating Mumbai City FC 2-1 in the summit clash at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Sunday. Siva Sakthi (10th minute) and Brazilian Alan Costa (61st) scored for the winners while Apuia got the lone goal for the Mumbai side in an entertaining match.
(With PTI inputs)