Calcutta Premier Division: Prayag United not to play against East Bengal

Prayag United SC will not be fielding a team in their last Calcutta Premier Division – Championship Round match against East Bengal tomorrow with the IFA (West Bengal) awarding all three points to the Red-and-Gold.

The official reason given by Prayag United was a number of suspensions as well as injuries and the departure of their foreign players, which all resulted in the club being unable to field a competitive side against East Bengal.

Reading between the lines, it seems that the floodlight fiasco has had a bearing on Prayag United’s decision to continue playing in the Calcutta Premier Division, wherein Prayag United wanted to continue play on while their opponents Mohun Bagan wanted the match to be replayed due to power outage. It is believed to have pushed Prayag United on the defensive, and thereby incriminating the authorities running the city’s football league.

The controversial match, held on Friday (May 17) was suspended with eleven minutes to play and the match precariously balanced at 0-0. The authorities decided to replay the match, which eventually ended in Mohun Bagan winning 3-0.

Now the final game of the Championship Round would be played as per schedule between arch-rivals Mohun Bagan AC and East Bengal Club at the Salt Lake Stadium on Thursday, 23 May at 5pm.

East Bengal are on 21 points from seven matches and only need to draw to retain their title, while Mohun Bagan are two points behind their rivals, needing an outright win to secure the title.