An empty stadium for a football match in the country is nothing unusual, but on Saturday East Bengal will take on Mumbai FC in the I-League behind closed doors at the gigantic Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Kriragan in Kolkata.
The match, which will be held literally in an empty stadium, is the first of three matches East Bengal will play at a closed stadium as police deployment is not possible because of municipal elections in the state.
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation polls are slated for Saturday and 92 municipalities across the state will go to vote on April 25.
The Bidhan Nagar police, under whose jurisdiction the stadium falls, refused to provide security.
Under the circumstances, East Bengal have agreed to play without crowd; only officials, players and media will be allowed in for the three matches.
After Mumbai, East Bengal is slated to meet Dempo SC on April 25 in two I-League matches and then Johor Darul Ta'zim in the final AFC Cup group match on April 28.
The last season's runners-up find their campaign back on track after registering back-to-back victories (Bharat FC and Pune FC) in away matches and will look to relish home conditions even as the fans' absence could be a dampener.
East Bengal's star striker Ranty Martins, who leads the scorers' pack with 14 goals, is one goal shy of a milestone.
The Nigerian needs to score one more to become the first player in the I-League/NFL to get to the 200 goals’ mark.
Mumbai FC go into the match on the back of a shock 0-1 defeat to Dempo and the news of their midfielder, Dane Pereira, flunking a dope test.
Pereira has been suspended from playing professional football until further notice.
East Bengal are fifth placed in the table while Mumbai FC occupy eighth place.
Image: East Bengal's star players Ranty Martins (left) and Dudu Omaghbemi celebrate during an I-League match.
Photograph: PTI
