Mohun Bagan's Obstinacy Gives East Bengal Walkover In Kolkata Derby

The East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan clash carries the tag of being Indian Football's biggest match. Despite onslaught of the big sponsor-backed Indian Super League (ISL), this one match evoked frenzy like no other. But it may not be the case after Wednesday.

The two teams were supposed to clash in Kalyani in an important match of the Calcutta Football League (CFL). East Bengal pocketed three points from the match without even playing a single minute. The reason? Mohun Bagan did not think it was necessary to field a team!

The reason for not fielding a team is even stranger. Mohun Bagan managing director Anjan Mitra on Tuesday said that they had asked for two extra days' of practice as their players weren't accustomed to the turf at Kalyani.

"We are not turning up tomorrow. About eight of our players have not even seen Kalyani Stadium, how can we play without even a day's practice?" he said.

However, the match was mired in controversy after a makeshift structure to enhance the capacity to 16,000 did not meet safety requirements and Mohun Bagan cited a shortfall in the tickets made available to their 6234 club members.

According to Mohun Bagan, it was verbally agreed that both clubs were to get 4,000 tickets each but a temporary structure to increase the capacity did not get the clearance and IFA later said they cannot spare more than 2,000 each.

However, Bengal's football governing body, Indian Football Association, said the teams had agreed to play earlier.

"Both the teams had agreed to play in Kalyani," Ganguli shot back. "We cannot spare more than 2000 tickets for them, as per their original suggestion of reserving 25% of all tickets for both clubs. We had planned for 16,000 spectators, but the temporary gallery was not satisfactory as per the safety requirements. We will not be able to defer the match beyond Tuesday."

"Now it's impossible to meet the demand of our members," Mitra wrote in his letter to IFA. Mitra further said they suggested Mohun Bagan Stadium as an alternate venue but it did not get police permission.

Apart from ISL matches, the spectator attendance in Indian football has been farcical in other matches over the last two decades. The East Bengal-Mohun Bagan was the only match that gave the semblance that traditional Indian football clubs had the ability to draw spectators to the ground.

But now it seems, even drawing the Kolkata giants to the ground is turning out to be a troublesome affair.

(With inputs from PTI)