Pictures by Bibhash Lodh, BS News Agency.
BS News Agency: Before winning the Durand Cup, East Bengal qualified for the main stage by defeating Kuwait's Al Arabi 4-1 in the AFC Champions League Tier Two playoff match at Yuva Bharati on August 12. The red and yellow team's campaign in the AFC Champions League Tier Two main stage begins with an away match on September 16. East Bengal's opponent is Jordan's Al Hussein. To ensure that the footballers do not face difficulties in the new environment and field to play that match, East Bengal coach Antonio Lopez Habas will leave Kolkata for Amman, Jordan on September 13. Before winning the Durand Cup in that match, East Bengal qualified for the main stage by defeating Kuwait's Al Arabi 4-1 in the AFC Champions League Tier Two playoff match at Yuva Bharati on August 12. The red and yellow team's campaign in the main stage of the AFC Champions League Tier Two will begin with an away match on September 16. East Bengal's opponent is Jordan's opponent Al Hussein. To ensure that the footballers do not face difficulties in the new environment and field to play that match, East Bengal coach Antonio Lopez Habas will leave Kolkata for Amman, Jordan on September 13 with the team. Not only did he get a good result in that match, but Habas left no gap in his preparation after winning the Durand Cup to jump towards the goal of victory.
And that is even more clear when coach Habas did not release a single senior footballer to play for East Bengal in the Kolkata Football League derby held at Barasat ground on Monday. This is the right decision. One, it would be a great injustice if the footballers who had played for so long and had taken the team to the Super Six of the Kolkata Football League did not play in the derby. They would have been deprived, and at the same time their hearts would have been broken. Secondly, if even one of the senior footballers got injured while playing in the derby of the Kolkata Football League, it would not have been good for Habas for the AFC Champions League Tier Two match.
At the same time, the IFA Shield is scheduled to start from September 20. It goes without saying that the entire Shakti team will also play in that tournament as preparation for East Bengal coach Habas ISL. ISL will start on October 10. However, Habas will not get Edmund Lalrindika, Joy Gupta, Anwar Ali and goalkeeper Prabhusukhan Gill during the Shield. Because these four footballers will be in the national camp for the matches in Panama, Brazil and Uruguay. These footballers will return to the red and yellow brigade after the Uruguay match on October 6. However, they can return earlier if Indian team chief coach Khalid Jamil does not include them in the final squad. East Bengal's ISL match on October 10 does not seem to be happening. Because the red and yellow team has a match against Iraqi team Al Shorta on October 13 at Yuva Bharti in the AFC Champions League Tier Two.
But that does not matter. A temporary problem arose regarding the organization of the match at Yuva Bharti on October 13. Durga Puja is coming up. East Bengal's match with Al Shorta is on the day of Tritiya. Since Durga Puja starts in full swing in Kolkata from Mahalaya, the Kolkata and Bidhannagar police administration were initially worried about allowing the East Bengal and Al Shorta match to be held at Yuva Bharti on October 13. Their initial objection was regarding the spectators coming to watch the game at Yuva Bharti to enter the field. For Durga Puja, most of the police in Kolkata and Bidhannagar will be busy managing the visitors at the puja pavilions and on the streets. So, the police administration initially wanted East Bengal to either play the match with Al Shorta in Kolkata or somewhere outside Bengal to avoid trouble. And if that is not possible, then East Bengal should play the match at Yuva Bharati on a specific day without spectators. But the East Bengal authorities did not like both of these issues. Because, playing the match outside involves a lot of hassle and additional costs. And playing the match at an empty stadium means depriving the fans of watching the game at home.
However, this problem has been resolved after East Bengal wrote a letter to the state Sports Ministry. With the intervention of the Sports Ministry, East Bengal will play the AFC Champions League match against Al Shorta at Yuva Bharati on October 13. However, for security reasons and keeping in mind the strength of the police administration, there may be some reduction in the number of spectator seats at Yuva Bharati Stadium. Of course, the red and yellow brigade has no objection to that. Time will tell how many East Bengal fans, who are already in the mood for the Sharad festival ahead of Puja, will be excited to watch the Al Shorta match.