Kolkata, Jan 8 (IANS) Mohun Bagan Super Giant have announced that the Kolkata derby against East Bengal FC, scheduled on January 11, has been moved to Guwahati from Kolkata and will now be played at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium.
The match between the two Kolkata giants was scheduled to be held at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. But due to the upcoming Gangasagar Mela police convened to organiser Mohun Bagan that they will be unable to provide adequate security for the game.
“Saturday blockbuster ‘Boro Match’ will now be played at Guwahati. See you, Mariners,” the club stated in a statement.
Although several other locations, such as Bhubaneswar and Jamshedpur, were considered, Guwahati emerged victorious. Punjab FC and FC Goa are scheduled to visit NorthEast United on January 10 and January 14, respectively.
Thus, one of the reasons for holding the event in Guwahati was to spare the official broadcaster from having to pay for the extra costs.
Mohun Bagan SG will head into the Kolkata derby in red-hot form having won eight out of their last ten matches. The Mariners have also never lost to their city rivals in the ISL and would look to keep that run going.
However, East Bengal are witnessing an upturn in fortunes since the arrival of head coach Oscar Bruzon and have only lost twice in the league.
Jose Molina’s team emerged victorious in the earlier Kolkata derby of the season and will be keen to extend their strong record against their arch-rivals.
–IANS
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