Calcutta Football League is known for its controversies with physical confrontation between players, especial when it comes to the Calcutta Derby. But, this time around a league match between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan has been dismissed for a completely off-the-book reason. The Mariners failed to show up for the match.
Reportedly, Mohun Bagan requested to postpone this high profile match, but the officials refused to do it. Eventually, East Bengal was declared the winners and East Bengal became the champions of CFL for the seventh time in a row. The match was supposed to be held at the Kalyani Stadium.
A similar event took place in 1985 when Mohun Bagan didn’t turn up and
East Bengal declared champions.
This match was privy to a controversy as the makeshift seating arrangement failed to meet the security standards and Mohun Bagan cited a shortage of 6234 tickets made available to their fans.
The IFA with its mild involvement in the matter stated that this instance was hardly an embarrassment.
The rivalry between the Ghotis and Bangals dates back to when time started. Naturally, a win regardless of the situation, means a celebration of some magnitude, be it with Hilsa or the golda chingri (large prawns, which is the new mascot of Mohun Bagan).
The Indian Super League may have made leaps of success in its two years, but the origins of the sport in the country can be traced back to nowhere but Bengal. It is said that more of football runs in the blood of a Bengali than cricket, so it isn’t hard to imagine the disappointment of the fans with such an unfortunate display.
The ISL is going to kick off soon, and its association with big names from Europe make it more interesting every year. Add Bengal to that, and it hardly gets any better. Such is the beauty of football in Bengal.
