Mohun Bagan have finally agreed to contest the much awaited Calcutta Football League derby against arch-rivals East Bengal after the IFA agreed to their demands. Mohun Bagan had initially refused to play the matches against East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting, demanding 25% shares from TV broadcasting and ticket sales.
A joint meeting between the IFA Secretary Utpal Ganguly and Mohun Bagan officials Debashish Dutta, Srinjoy Bose and Anjan Mitra was held to thrash out the differences and an agreement was finally reached.
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Ganguly stated that Mohun Bagan’s demands were logical and 25% share of the ticket sale would go to the participating teams with the remaining 50% to be bagged by the IFA. However, he also said that it would be impossible to distribute the TV broadcasting share. With Bagan's participation guaranteed, a separate meeting was then held to decide the venue and time of the match. It has finally been decided that Indian football’s biggest sporting rivalry will be played on 7th September in Kalyani at 3PM.
The Kolkata derby is easily India’s biggest football carnival. Often shrouded by controversy, it brings out the passion in both players and fans equally. Probably the only Indian football match that has never seen an empty seat, tempers often run wild and a whole police squadron is usually employed for safety measures. Known as the ‘Baro’ match in Kolkata, India’s two most successful clubs play this derby at least four times in a season.
Till date, they have faced off a whopping 345 times with East Bengal just shading their head to head with 125 wins. Bagan have triumphed on 107 occasions while 113 games ended a stalemate. This rivalry, in fact, began even before the clubs came into existence with East Bengal formed only after a controversy which supported Mohun Bagan.
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The 2 clubs currently sit pretty at the top of the Calcutta Football League table. The Mariners trail East Bengal by 2 points and would be looking to overhaul their rivals with victory in the derby. The Red and Gold Brigade,on the other hand, will be looking to take an unassailable 5 point lead at the top.
