Kolkata: Kolkata giants East Bengal and Mohun Bagan clubs have shown Rabindra Sarobar as their home venue for the forthcoming I League season 2016-17. Atletico de Kolkata also use the same venue for their home matches in the ensuing Hero Indian Super League (ISL). Both clubs were somewhat forced to take such a decision due to the unavailability of the Salt Lake Stadium which is getting ready for the FIFA U’17 World Cup in India. The big two clubs have also shown Barasat stadium as their home venue.
Confirming the news, I League CEO Sunando Dhar said, “Both clubs have given the names of Rabindra Sarobar Stadium and Barasat stadium as their home venues.”
East Bengal has also given the name of Kanchenjunga Stadium in Siliguri for the first I League derby as it is their turn this season.
“East Bengal has requested us to host the first derby in Siliguri, since they are the hosts. We have not yet received any intimation from Mohun Bagan about their objection to play the first derby in Siliguri,” said Sunando.
Asked if Kalyani can host I League matches, I League CEO dismissed the venue saying, “Kalyani do not have the floodlights to host matches in the evening. So, most likely no matches will be staged at the venue.”
The Kolkata League derby also had to be shifted to Kalyani stadium due to the unavailability of Salt Lake Stadium. But Mohun Bagan refused to play citing security reasons. As a result East Bengal got a walkover. The second I League derby last season was played at Siliguri. East Bengal prevailed over their arch rivals winning the match by a 2-1 margin. Last time both the clubs played against each other in I League in Kolkata was at Salt Lake Stadium on January 23. The result was a 1-1 stalemate.
Mohun Bagan finance secretary Debasis Dutta also confirmed that they have shown the names of Rabindra Sarobar and Barsat stadium. According to Debasis, “We have also shown Rabindra Sarobar and Barast stadium as our home grounds. We are yet to decide on the venue for derby as we will be hosting it after East Bengal.”
Earlier Mohun Bagan have enlisted the Cooperage stadium as their home venue for the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) branded matches for the upcoming 2016/17 season. The Mariners will participate in the AFC Cup next season by virtue of finishing runners up in I League and Federation Cup Champion.
Mohun Bagan also played against Tampines Rovers in the AFC Cup last season at the Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium in Guwahati