Kerala Blasters defeat Indonesia's Persib Bandung in international fan poll

Indian Super League (ISL) club Kerala Blasters have defeated Indonesia's Persib Bandung in an online poll conducted by a US-based social media survey platform San Bass Media. Both the sides are known for their vociferous fan base and the survey garnered a cumulative 374, 292 votes.

The Blasters pipped their Indonesian counterparts by a margin of 50.6% to 49.4%. This was Round 3 of the survey poll after the Indian club beat Mexican side Tigres UANL and France's Marseille in the previous two rounds.

Regardless to say, both sets of fans engaged in social media banter. But, it seems that Kerala Blasters had the last laugh.

pic.twitter.com/LTYWYOQtUi

— R.ᮞᮕᮛᮥᮓᮤᮔ᮪ (@Robiobbi) April 6, 2020

pic.twitter.com/LVuXdmrFXB

— QATAR MANJAPPADA (@qatarmanjappada) April 6, 2020

However, the Blasters' victory comes with a twist. There were accusations of fans using bots to help their sides win. San Bass Media has tweeted that it will be investigated and should the Indian outfit find themselves guilty, they might be disqualified altogether.

But, at the time of writing, Kerala Blasters have progressed to the quarter-finals where they will square off against Turkish giants Galatasaray, who have also had such accusations labelled at them by Al-Ittihad.

To the fans of Ittihad 🇸🇦 and Persib Bandung 🇮🇩 our thanks.Unfortunately, I can't answer all the direct messages, however, the votes will still be investigated. Thank you very much ♥️.

— San Bass Media 🇺🇲 (@SanBassMedia) April 8, 2020

Kerala Blasters received votes from fans from all across the nation. Other ISL clubs set aside their rivalry to help the club win.

We've done our bit, @kbfc_manjappada 💪😉 pic.twitter.com/HCvlytFPqT

— FC Goa (@FCGoaOfficial) April 7, 2020

Chennaiyin FC was the other Indian club in contention. However, the Marina Machans got knocked out in the first round by Turkish side Transzonspor. Fenerbahce (Turkey), Corinthians (Brazil), Transzonspor (Turkey), FC Porto (Portugal), Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia), Juventus (Italy), Boca Juniors (Argentina), Alianza Lima (Peru), Al-Ahli (Saudi Arabia), Inter Milan (Italy), Besiktas (Turkey), and Flamengo (Brazil) were the other clubs that reached the Round of 16.

If one wishes to vote for the Kerala Blasters in the competition, one needs to keep an eye on the Twitter handle of San Bass Media.