East Bengal to play waiting game over I-League game in Srinagar
East Bengal are not keen on travelling to Srinagar for the match after the Pulwama terror attacks and have written a letter to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) about the matter.
East Bengal were scheduled to play Real Kashmir on February 10 but due to heavy snowfall, the match was moved to February 28. However, in the wake of the Pulwama attacks, the Kolkata club are not keen on travelling to Srinagar for the match and have written a letter to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) about the matter.
“We have sent a letter to AIFF where we have written about the concerns raised by our coach and other officials.The questions are mainly about the security concerns and also the current environment. Let them reply and then we will decide the next course of action,” East Bengal CEO Sanjit Sen told Hindustan Times on Monday.
“The match is still over a week away and considering how the scenario can change, the club cannot comment on future decisions. However, a lot will depend on how AIFF answers our concerns,” he added.
However, East Bengal are not considering any legal option at present and they have decided to wait for the response from AIFF before deciding their next move.
“Minerva Punjab’s match was just after the incident and that is why, they decided to take legal actions. We still have time and as of now, we are not considering any legal route,” he concluded.
East Bengal and Real Kashmir are both tied at the second spot with 32 points while Chennai City are leading with 34 points.
Club CEO Sanjit Sen told Goal, "We have received a mail from AIFF where they have stated that the match will be played on February 28 in Srinagar. The East Bengal management and Quess Corp management will discuss this matter in the next few days. As of now, all arrangements have been made to travel to Kashmir. At present we are focusing only on our next match which is on February 25 against Aizawl FC."
East Bengal’s board member and senior official Debabrata Sarkar on Tuesday suggested that they would request the AIFF to consider the situation from a humanitarian angle and postpone the game.
He said, “We want football to continue in Kashmir. But we cannot play football at the cost of human lives. Our coach is a foreigner and we have six foreign players in our team who have raised their concerns over playing there.
“We are not here to fight with AIFF. We want to protect football and footballers. If something happens to the players it will be a very bad advertisement for Indian football. But if AIFF forces us then we will try to convince our players to go.
“We have never said we will not play in Kashmir. We will definitely go. What we are suggesting is to reschedule the match. Let things get back to normalcy in Kashmir. We will play the match in Kashmir only, but after a few days.”
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East Bengal to play waiting game over I-League game in Srinagar
East Bengal are not keen on travelling to Srinagar for the match after the Pulwama terror attacks and have written a letter to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) about the matter.
East Bengal were scheduled to play Real Kashmir on February 10 but due to heavy snowfall, the match was moved to February 28. However, in the wake of the Pulwama attacks, the Kolkata club are not keen on travelling to Srinagar for the match and have written a letter to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) about the matter.
“We have sent a letter to AIFF where we have written about the concerns raised by our coach and other officials.The questions are mainly about the security concerns and also the current environment. Let them reply and then we will decide the next course of action,” East Bengal CEO Sanjit Sen told Hindustan Times on Monday.
“The match is still over a week away and considering how the scenario can change, the club cannot comment on future decisions. However, a lot will depend on how AIFF answers our concerns,” he added.
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However, East Bengal are not considering any legal option at present and they have decided to wait for the response from AIFF before deciding their next move.
“Minerva Punjab’s match was just after the incident and that is why, they decided to take legal actions. We still have time and as of now, we are not considering any legal route,” he concluded.
East Bengal and Real Kashmir are both tied at the second spot with 32 points while Chennai City are leading with 34 points.
https://twitter.com/qebna?lang=en
Club CEO Sanjit Sen told Goal, "We have received a mail from AIFF where they have stated that the match will be played on February 28 in Srinagar. The East Bengal management and Quess Corp management will discuss this matter in the next few days. As of now, all arrangements have been made to travel to Kashmir. At present we are focusing only on our next match which is on February 25 against Aizawl FC."
East Bengal’s board member and senior official Debabrata Sarkar on Tuesday suggested that they would request the AIFF to consider the situation from a humanitarian angle and postpone the game.
He said, “We want football to continue in Kashmir. But we cannot play football at the cost of human lives. Our coach is a foreigner and we have six foreign players in our team who have raised their concerns over playing there.
“We are not here to fight with AIFF. We want to protect football and footballers. If something happens to the players it will be a very bad advertisement for Indian football. But if AIFF forces us then we will try to convince our players to go.
“We have never said we will not play in Kashmir. We will definitely go. What we are suggesting is to reschedule the match. Let things get back to normalcy in Kashmir. We will play the match in Kashmir only, but after a few days.”
https://www.goal.com/en-in/news/i-league-2018-19-east-bengal-aiff-real-kashmir-pulwama/zb7jbz9t5a8u1d8z3ce5qs33q
https://twitter.com/qebna?lang=en