Mohun Bagan defender Syed Rahim Nabi on Sunday said he was shell-shocked at the punishment handed down to his club by AIFF.
All India Football Federation has suspended Mohun Bagan for next two season of I-League.
Syed said, "My injury was to a large extent responsible for Mohun Bagan refusing to continue that day after half time".
"Mohun Bagan was forced to take the tough decision in the interest of the footballers and football lovers, as the players and spectators could have sustained more serious injuries had the match gone into the second half."
On Dec 9, Syed was hit by a stone on the face hurled from the crowd in the 43rd minute when Mohun Bagan were trailing 0-1 against East Bengal at the packed Salt Lake Stadium.
Police had to baton charge to bring a 95,000 strong crowd under control. Play resumed after 15 minutes but Mohun Bagan refused to come out in the second half, forcing the match commissioner to call off the game.
Syed was hospitalized after that.
I-League core committee met in Delhi on Saturday and announced the suspension of Mohun Bagan.
Strongly backing the club's decision to withdraw from the match, Nabi regretted: "Had I died, then the country's national club would not have faced such punishment."
"I have been told that I would have died if only the stone had hit me only a small distance away from where it hit me".
Meanwhile Mohun Bagan has said that they would formally AIFF to review its decision to impose a 3-year suspension on the club for abandoning the I-League derby match.
Anjan Mitra, General Secretary of Mohun Bagan said, "We have decided that we will formally ask for a review".
The letter would be sent to AIFF President Praful Patel by Monday.
"We have arrived at this decision after consulting our panel of lawyers," said Mitra.
The club executive committee had earlier empowered Mitra to decide on appealing at an appropriate forum against the suspension.
The I-League core committee will again meet Jan 9 to decide if the quantum of punishment imposed on Mohun Bagan is enough or if additional fine and suspension were needed.
(with inputs from IANS)
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