Calcutta: Atletico de Kolkata are staunchly supporting their manager, player and goalkeeper coach, who were slapped with ban and fines by the ISL disciplinary committee on Saturday.

With the team getting ready for a tough game against Kerala Blasters on Sunday, news came in that Fikru Teferra, Antonio Lopez Habas and Predipkumar Bhaktawer have all been penalised by the ISL disciplinary committee for the unsavoury incidents during their match against FC Goa on Thursday.

ATK filed an appeal with the disciplinary committee on Saturday evening itself, with a plea that their side of the story also be heard and the ban and fines be reconsidered.

“We stand by our coach (Habas). If he says he is not guilty of the allegations levelled against him (that of hitting Robert Pires), then we believe him. But we have also urged the disciplinary committee that our side of the story be heard. Natural justice demands that the accused is also given a chance to defend/explain himself. Our coach was not given that chance,” an ATK official said.

Asked whether the coach, who had been earlier cautioned after their match against NorthEast United FC, should have been more careful, team official Saharsh Parekh said: “He was not being malicious. He has passion and we have to respect that.

“Also, we have been talking to him on a daily basis. But we also believe him when he says that he did not hit anyone (referring to the allegation made by Pires).”

A senior team official said Habas could be spoken to, but added that the franchise wouldn’t want to undermine his passion and the spirit he has infused in the team.

Asked whether the ATK management was worried about being already seen as the “bad boys” of the ISL, a senior member of the management committee of ATK said: “The sport is a body contact one. Yes, there have been yellow cards shown against us but none of them were for very rough tackles.”