AFC Cup: Bengaluru FC's clash against S-League giants Tampines Rovers in doubt
For followers of Indian Football, this tie couldn’t get better. Tampines Rovers, the Singaporean giants arrived last evening and will hopefully be able to take on Bengaluru FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Wednesday.
The match though has been thrown into doubt due to the riots that have hit the city of Bengaluru over the issue of the Supreme Court modifying its order to release a lesser amount of water to neighbour State Tamil Nadu, from the Cauvery River. The Karnataka government has imposed Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code in the State which prevents unlawful assembly of people armed with deadly weapons.
As a result, there are chances that the match may get postponed in light of the law and order situation.
Both Tampines Rovers and Bengaluru FC have postponed their training sessions and press conferences as well. The official twitter handles of the clubs also posted messages stating that there would be regular updates as to the status of the game. The club which is also known as Mighty Stags trained in the hotel car park on Tuesday due to the riots as per their official Twitter handle.
Tampines Rovers are considered as one of the most successful Singapore sides, having won the league title 5 times and have one of the most feared strikers in the S-League in the form of Fazrul Nawaz. The club will be making their eighth appearance in the AFC cup having qualified for the AFC Champions league this season for the first time in the club’s history.
The presence of former English Premier League player, Jermaine Pennant in the S-League side will add to the Singaporean’s sides crossing. Pennant was also a part of the FC Pune City squad which participated in the inaugural Indian Super League.
Also Read: 5 players to watch out for in Bengaluru FC vs Tampines Rovers Bengaluru FC face Tampines Rovers in the first leg of the AFC Cup quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, as far as Bengaluru FC is concerned, an all Indian strike force may be the order of the day, as per Coach Albert Roca. As reported by Rahul Bali of Goal.com, the former Barcelona assistant coach will look to field a side which will provide balance to the team. While Tampines arrive on the back of a defeat over the weekend, they will still be considered a bigger threat due to the fitness levels.
Bengaluru FC, though will be short on match practice and will start as underdogs and will hope to emulate the achievements of other Indian clubs such as Dempo SC and East Bengal by achieving a victory and moving on to the next round. There are also some reports that the match might be a closed door affair.