I-League 2017: East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan derby postponed by AIFF
What's the story?
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has finally announced the newly revised dates for the return leg of the recently concluded Kolkata Derby today. The highly-anticipated match will take place on the 21st of January instead of January 13th, the federation confirmed to Sportskeeda.
East Bengal will play as the hosts in their return leg at the Salt Lake Stadium when they take on their arch-rivals Mohun Bagan next month.
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Mohun Bagan came out on top when the two sides met earlier this month, thanks to a goal from Kingsley Obumneme in the 39th minute. Khalid Jamil's Red and Gold army were left out to feel the disappointment as they failed to overcome their rivals, yet again.
The Kolkata Derby is one of the highest viewed derbies in the world and holds a significant place in the heart of every Bengali and the magnitude associated with the same is nothing short of spectacular, to say the least.
Heart of the matter
The AIFF had previously scheduled the return leg of the derby to be played on the 13th of January but they were forced to revise the fixture due to the Gangasagar Fair, which will take place on the same day.
Since the derby is often volatile, the police personnel in the city believe that it could be a mammoth task to simultaneously maintain security on the day with two massive events scheduled to take place and requested the AIFF to postpone the game.
The match will also be an early kick-off and will take place at 2 PM IST instead of the previously scheduled 5 PM kick-off time.
What next?
Mohun Bagan are currently occupying the second position in the I-League table and look more confident than their rivals East Bengal, who are languishing at fourth place, heading into the derby next month.
Author's take
The rescheduling of the Kolkata Derby is certainly an attempt to keep things under control and it will not take away any shine from the already glittering contest between two of Indian football's biggest heavyweights.