ISL 2018-19: Ambareesh Funeral won't affect Bengaluru FC vs Delhi Dynamos game
The demise of popular Kannada film actor and former Union minister Ambareesh will not affect the Indian Super League (ISL) game between Bengaluru FC and Delhi Dynamos, to be played at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Monday, November 26.
An ISL official confirmed to Sportskeeda that the match will go on as scheduled, despite doubts over whether the Kanteerava will be available for football. The club is also going forward in getting the stadium ready for the match.
The match is being built up as Sunil Chhetri's 150th appearance for BFC. But there were doubts whether the match would be held as scheduled as the Chief Minister of Karnataka, HD Kumaraswamy, announced a three-day mourning period for the death of Ambareesh.
That apart, it was unsure whether the state government, who are the custodians of the Kanteerava Stadium, would sanction the venue on Monday.
Delhi Dynamos' training session and the pre-match press conference for the game were cancelled earlier on Sunday as Ambareesh's body was kept at the Kanteerava Stadium for the public, who were permitted to pay tribute to the departed star. The body was airlifted to Mandya, Ambareesh's hometown, at 3.30 pm on Sunday.
A report said that Ambareesh's body would be brought back to the Kanteerava Stadium at 6 am on Monday. The body would then be taken to the Kanteerava Studios for the funeral at 10 am.
The club went forward with their preparations for the game. They re-organised the barricades and started cleaning up the venue on Sunday evening.
The broadcast team from Star has to set up its equipment for telecast and they will do so after 10 am on Monday.
Bengaluru FC have played only six matches - the least among all the teams. Among the six, only two matches were held at home. A home tie against ATK, scheduled for October 31, was moved to the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata as the Karnataka government needed the Sree Kanteerava Stadium for their Kannada Rajyotsava celebrations on November 1.
Back in September 2016, Bengaluru FC had to play their AFC Cup quarterfinal against Singapore outfit Tampines Rovers behind closed doors due to protests over a Cauvery river verdict that was unfavourable to Karnataka.
Also in May 2016, Bengaluru FC had to play their Federation Cup tie against Aizawl FC at 9 pm as the multi-discipline Kanteerava was the host to the Junior Federation Cup Athletics event.
On Monday though, the match is expected to proceed at the scheduled time.
Malavalli Huchche Gowda Amarnath, fondly called Ambareesh, passed away at a Bengaluru hospital on Saturday after a cardiac arrest. He was 66.