Football in West Bengal saw controversy as Mohun Bagan failed to turn up for their scheduled match against East Bengal, on Thursday. Both sides were set to take on each other in the much-awaited derby of Calcutta Football League (CFL) premier division, but fans were left disappointed.
Bagan backed out, raising an objection to play on Thursday, complaining about congestion of fixtures, and they also criticised the ‘ineffective scheduling by IFA’. The club’s complaint is also related to their upcoming ISL match against Hyderabad FC, which is scheduled for December 2. Also the venue for the game has been shifted to Bhubaneshwar, due to the Telangana assembly elections.
In a letter to IFA secretary Anirban Dutta, Mohun Bagan reportedly said, “Because of the ineffective scheduling by IFA we have been given to understand most of the teams in Super Six skipped their games as other tournaments (have) started, (and it) questions total sanity of the CFL.”
Mohammedan Sporting have already clinched the CFL title after beating Bagan, 2-0 on September 21. During the campaign, they fielded a second-string side, and registered seven wins, three draws, amassing 24 points from 13 matches. Meanwhile, East Bengal, who were fielding their developmental side, had a better campaign, bagging 36 points from 15 matches.
For Thursday’s match, the East Bengal players reached the stadium ahead of the 2 pm IST kick-off time, and waited for the stipulated period of one hour, before match officials declared Bagan as absent. The point gained from the match sees East Bengal finish as runners-up in the campaign.
