Bengaluru FC have announced that their AFC Cup quarterfinal clash against S-League giants Tampines Rovers will be played behind closed doors. The game has also been rescheduled to 4pm, from 7pm, leaving the telecast in doubt, as Star had agreed to broadcast the game earlier. The club also confirmed that there will be no media presence for the game.
The city of Bengaluru had witnessed ugly scenes of rioting due to the Cauvery dispute, leading to the imposition of Sec 144 throughout the city. Understandably, the Bengaluru City Police must have advised against going ahead with the game, with crowds expected to exceed 10,000.
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Speaking about the loss of being backed by the famed and vociferous ‘West Block Blues’ fans, Bengaluru FC manager Albert Roca said, “It is unfortunate that we will not have our fans. It's a real shame but we need to accept it and put on a good performance. I have spoken to the players, and it won't be an excuse. Everyone wants to play with support but we will try to do our best.”
The announcement of the closed-doors game is a huge blow to the nascent club, as this was the biggest game in their history, having never gone this far in the AFC Cup. As for the fans, the club have also announced that they will be refunding those who had purchased tickets for the game.
Roca also revealed the team news for the game in the pre-match press conference, confirming that Udanta Singh was fit and could potentially start, but would be unlikely to last the entire 90 minutes. In addition, Sunil Chhetri remains available to play for BFC, despite signing for ISL side Mumbai City FC.
Roca signed off, by hoping that BFC could go further in the tournament, saying “It's time for us to make one more step in this competition. We can't make excuses and we will try to do our best.”
Here is Bengaluru FC’s statement, published on their official website :
It has been a rather delicate 24 hours for the state of Karnataka and specifically, the city of Bengaluru. In the wake of the recent turn of events and after lengthy consultation with the Bengaluru Police, the AFC and the AIFF, we at Bengaluru FC have had to take an extremely difficult decision of playing Wednesday’s AFC Cup quarterfinal against Tampines Rovers at the Kanteerava Stadium, behind closed doors.
